SWIP adds to property portfolio

SWIP, on behalf of Scottish Widows Unit Fund (SWUF Ltd), have announced the purchase of Longwood Road Retail Park, Newtownabbey near Belfast, from Corbo Properties for £48m. The net initial yield is 6.2%.

Longwood Road is one of the largest non-food retail parks in Northern Ireland with over 200,000 square feet of retail space. The original site contained a mix of early generation retail warehousing and industrial units but redevelopment by Corbo transformed it into a highly attractive destination retail centre with greatly improved traffic flows in a busy location.

The park houses the largest Matalan in Ireland and is now fully let. A recent letting to Mothercare was followed up by new lettings to Dreams and to Home Bargains, the latter a new entrant to Northern Ireland.

James McLean, investment manager, SWIP said: "SWUF is delighted to have acquired such a high quality retail warehouse park. The fund previously owned a  31,000 sq.ft unit on the site which it sold to Corbo in 2004 and retained a pre-emption to purchase the retail park once developed.  On re-visiting the park in early 2010 the decision was made that this was an asset which would fit well within the existing SWUF portfolio.  The retail park offers significant growth and added value initiatives in the future and it fits perfectly with our long term investment strategy."

Commenting on the sale, Stephen Kirkpatrick, CEO of Corbo, said "The re-entry of such a high quality investor as SWIP into Northern Ireland property market is an extremely positive sign. We are very proud of what we have achieved at Longwood Road through the creation of an outstanding retail offering in this dominant regional centre. This transaction follows quickly on the back the two other institutional sales this summer and demonstrates very clearly the prime nature of our extensive UK portfolio."

Billy McCombe of DTZ McCombe Pierce advised Scottish Widows on the purchase. Corbo were advised by Osborne King.