L&G buys The Meadows in Chelmsford for £56m
Published: 07 December, 2011
Lend Lease sells Essex mall to Legal & General Property’s UK Property Income Fund
Legal & General Property has acquired The Meadows Shopping Centre, Chelmsford, Essex, from Lend Lease for £56.1m, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.75 per cent. The in-town shopping centre asset has been acquired on behalf of the £475m UK Property Income Fund which also owns Fremlin Walk inMaidstone.
The covered shopping centre provides 150,000 sq ft of prime retail space, arranged over a single trading level, and 730 car parking spaces, within two car parks. Anchored by BHS and Wilkinson, as well as an eight-screen Odeon Cinema to the rear, the scheme contains 39 retail units in total, fully let to a range of multiples, including Warehouse, Boots, Fat Face and Sportsworld, as well as a restaurant quarter.
With an average unexpired lease term of over six years and 80 per cent of the income secured against established retailers, the centre provides a defensive income profile over the short term. To complement this, LGP has already identified a number of significant asset management opportunities to provide income growth over the medium term.
Charlie Walker, fund manager of the UK Property Income Fund, said: “Against a background of increasingly limited debt available and further challenges facing retailers, there continues to be a growing polarisation in theUKshopping centre market. I fully expect that there will continue to be a number of less attractive secondary shopping centre assets flooding the market,. However The Meadows,Chelmsford, represents one of only a very small handful of opportunities that provide the right combination of quality, size and location.”
