French property company Unibail has strengthened its shopping centre holdings with the purchase of the Nice-Etoile shopping centre from Dutch pension fund PGGM.
Nice-Etoile is located in avenue Jean Médecin, Nice’s main shopping street, and generates around Û152m (FFr1bn) in sales annually. No price was disclosed for the transaction but the yield was expected to be in the region of 5.5% to 6.5%. PGGM was advised by Jones Lang LaSalle.
The centre was opened in 1982 and renovated 10 years later. It comprises around 19,000m2 with tenants including FNAC, Habitat, C&A as well as 96 other stores.
The deal does not include the C&A store but does include an underground car park, and some office space on the upper floors of the centre.
Unibail said the centre offered potential because of its prime location in Nice and its upmarket catchment area.
Depfa, advised by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, was also understood to have bid for the shopping centre.
The buy fits in with Unibail’s focus on prime shopping centres. At the end of June 2000, the company owned €1.6bn (FFr10.5bn) of shopping centre assets including the Paris-based centres Le Forum des Halles, Les Quatre Temps, and Le Carrousel de Louvre.
