SEGRO has acquired Bath Road Shopping Park in Slough for £120 million and is considering developing it for warehousing or data centres.
The retail park, the other side of the Great Western mainline from SEGRO’s Slough Trading Estate, was acquired from Royal London Asset Management, which acted on behalf of vendor The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society.
The 11.4 acre site houses 10 retail warehouse units, totalling 191,500 sq ft, although around a third of the units are currently vacant. A statement by SEGRO said the acquisition provides ‘immediate opportunities for asset management or redevelopment initiatives’. Remaining leases on the park expire between 2023 and 2028.
The SEGRO statement goes on: “Land suitable for industrial development is in high demand and short supply in the Thames Valley and the relatively short lease terms of the retail units creates an opportunity to redevelop the site into modern warehousing suited to a variety of users, including data centres.”
Royal London also sold the McDonald’s drive thru restaurant at the front of the site to the tenant for £3.5m.
Elise Buchanan, senior asset manager at Royal London Asset Management said: “Royal London is delighted to announce the sale of the Bath Road Shopping Park, Slough. In a challenging market, the price achieved reflects a premium to the existing use value.”
Stephanie Hacking, portfolio fund manager for the Royal London Pension Property Fund, said: “This is an excellent sale in a difficult market at a price that is accretive to fund performance. The sale will allow the fund to recycle capital into other sectors that we consider offer better future performance prospects.”
SEGRO was represented by Knight Frank and CMS. CBRE and GunnerCooke advised Royal London.
Image: Google.
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