Trinity Walk opens 90 per cent let
Published: 06 May, 2011
Wakefield’s Trinity Walk shopping centre opens today. The first centre to open since the economic downturn took hold is already 90 per cent let
The 500,000-sq ft centre is anchored by Debenhams (opening Wakefield’s first modern department store) and the largest Sainsbury’s food store in the area at 117,000 sq ft. In addition Next, H&M, New Look, Top Shop, Top Man, Dorothy Perkins, River Island, USC and many more top retail brands have taken space.
With the opening of Trinity Walk, Wakefield leaps 42 places up CACI’s national rankings into the top 60 shopping destinations in the country.
The opening of Trinity Walk marks the end of a long and troubled gestation period. The original developer, Modus Ventures, collapsed in the middle of 2009, with the scheme started but less than quarter built.
Area Property Partners, Sovereign Land and Shepherd Construction stepped in at the end of 2009, backed by an £82m loan from Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets as well as smaller loans from Wakefield Council and Yorkshire Forward. Within two months the consortium had redesigned the scheme with the help of Leslie Jones Architects and was able to restart construction.
Sovereign Land Director Chris Geaves said a decision was made early on to be “pragmatic” about rents and lease terms, and in-line stores have commanded £120 to £130 per sq ft zone A, while the big box units – the scheme combines elements of a mall with elements of a retail park – commanded between £35 and £30 per sq ft overall.
Lease lengths average 14 to 15 years, but this is skewed by the anchors and in-line units are typically leased for ten to 12 years.
And Geaves added: “Over recent months we’ve found that we’ve been saving on the level of incentives that we’d budgeted for, adding: “There’s really positive interest in the remaining four or five units."
Letting agents for Trinity Walk are Angermann Goddard Loyd and Lunson Mitchenall.
