Investors prove reluctant to entirely abandon sector when fundamentals are strong

Altrincham – Atlantic Street Retail Park

With the comfort of four under bidders, a sale of this interesting retail warehouse investment opportunity was never really in doubt – albeit there was still a sense of relief when it finally completed last week after 5 months in the hands of solicitors. It was the property that just kept on giving…. problems.

The property comprises part of the former B&Q Warehouse in Altrincham. The ownership was broken up and part was initially sold to Aldi – who are currently on site building their new store. The residual was subdivided and leased to an independent bowling operator and United Carpet on 10 year leases. Such a simple plan…. which will be fully catalogued by my forth coming best seller looking at all aspects of property ownership including deeds of variation, service charge apportionment, planning, drainage, boundary disputes, unauthorised works and Party wall agreements.

We managed to address all the issues and the sale completed at the originally agreed price of £3.45 m. In addition to generating an attractive return of 8.75%, the buyer can anticipate an improvement in the trading potential of the location arising from the imminent arrival of a new attractive neighbour, but in the long term, the adjacency of the Bridge Water Canal provides a great development site.

There is no doubt that location played a determining role in generating buyer interest. However, we believe that this demonstrates renewed confidence in the retail warehouse sector. In this instance, the use had in part been repurposed, but values where ultimately underpinned by the prospect of owning a significant quantity of land.

Retail warehouses undoubtedly offer scope to be repositioned or repurposed within the evolving retail world. We gained a valuable insight into the process of evolution and learnt some valuable lessons along the way. We would be delighted to have an opportunity to share our experiences on other properties.

For further information contact Robert Millington