British Land Buys Drake Circus for £240m
Published: 06 January, 2011
British Land has bought the 425,000-sq ft Drake Circus in Plymouth to show a 6 per cent yield
Located in the middle of Plymouth, Drake Circus is the West Country's most popular shopping destination with an extensive catchment area covering Devon and Cornwall, and an annual footfall of nearly 19 million people. Developed by P&O in 2006, and subsequently sold to Kandahar and Morgan Stanley, it has over 70 retail units anchored by Primark, Marks & Spencer and Next with other key occupiers including Top Shop, New Look, Boots and H&M as well as newer fast growing retail brands such as Cult/Superdry and Republic.
The acquisition of Drake Circus is in line with British Land's strategy of focusing on locations where it is able to provide retailers with high quality, accessible and flexible retail formats which are able to meet their current and future needs. Nearly three quarters of the space at Drake Circus is in units of over 7,500 sq ft.
British Land chief executive Chris Grigg said: "Drake Circus further adds to our strong portfolio of high quality income generating retail assets in the best locations around the UK. We see significant potential to add value at Drake Circus over the coming years by leveraging our extensive asset management skills and retailer relationships."
