A prime shopping site that had lain vacant on Glasgow’s Argyle Street for almost two years has been let to the national chain in one of the biggest retail property deals in Scotland this year.
Property agent Colliers International has secured the former GAP store at 87-91 Argyle Street for JD Sports Fashion on a new long lease.
The flagship store has 23,500 sq ft of floor space and will become one of the largest shops in the Bury-based retailer’s UK portfolio when it opens later this summer. Trading over two floors with more than 100 feet of frontage onto the prime shopping pitch, the property had been vacant on Argyle Street since GAP moved to new Glasgow premises on Buchanan Street when the lease expired in September 2013.
John Duffy, director of in-town retail with Colliers International in Scotland, said: “This is probably the biggest deal in terms of retail leasing we’ve seen this year. Given that there are a number of vacancies on Argyle Street, finally getting a suitable retailer into this very large store is excellent news for the shopping area in general.
Duffy, who has acted for JD on a number of Scottish acquisitions as the retailer rolls out its estate, commented: “JD has been tracking a suitable opportunity for a prime flagship store for some years, and the new property will showcase JD’s full product range to the Glasgow retail market – one of the most lucrative in the UK”.
It is the second time Colliers’ John Duffy has secured 87-91 Argyle Street for a client, having acquired it for Mothercare over 15 years ago.
Warren Thompson, Group Acquisitions Manager at JD Sports Fashion added: “We have been pleased with the advice and market knowledge provided by Colliers International over recent years which has enabled us to secure this prime site in Glasgow.”
The property is part of Blackstone’s St Enoch Centre estate, which the fund manager acquired in 2013. The estate, managed by Blackstone’s partner Sovereign Land includes the 830,000 sq ft St Enoch Centre where other national retailers such as Debenhams, Superdry, Top Shop and H&M already have flagship stores.
Blackstone/Sovereign has signed up a long list of clients since taking over the centre and surrounding units on Argyle Street, including footwear retailer Pavers, affordable clothing seller West Coast, outdoor clothing and footwear chain Rohan, American-themed restaurant Ed’s Easy Diner and soft drinks chain Moobo.
The Landlords Blackstone/Sovereign Land were advised on the JD Sports deal by Eric Young & Co and Cushman & Wakefield.