A thriving retail hub in a residential suburb of Winchester has seen confidence in the future underlined by a series of lease renewals.
Weeke Centre – a mixed-use development by Development Securities Plc – was pre-let to Waitrose, Costa Coffee and Boots before completion in 2009.
Part of the scheme at Stoney Lane, Weeke, includes a row of four ground-floor units occupied by Costa Coffee, Wessex Cancer Trust and mobility aids provider Carver Care.
They have signed up to new leases through retail agency specialist Myddelton & Major, acting on behalf of Development Securities Plc.
Simon Lee, a partner at commercial property consultancy Myddelton & Major, said: “There is definitely a sense of new retail confidence in the air and this is reflected by the lease commitments shown here by the occupiers.
“Weeke Centre is proving a draw for local residents and is a classic example where a brownfield site has been transformed into a thriving retail hub. The scheme is fully let, with plenty of retailers waiting in the wings should space ever become available.”
Development Securities’ Audrey Wong said: “Weeke Centre is a well located and popular convenience retail destination in an affluent Winchester suburb. We completed this development in 2009 with pre-lets to Waitrose, Costa Coffee and Boots.
“Our success in securing these tenants reflects the quality of the development and our expertise as a leading real estate asset manager. We are pleased to have now reached full occupancy and wish all the new occupiers every continued success.”
Comprising 134 sq m (1,442 sq ft), units 2 and 3 have been let to Wessex Cancer Trust on two leases on undisclosed terms.
Comprising a new ground floor shop unit of 55.74 sq m (600 sq ft), Unit 4a is let to Milton Keynes Mobility, trading as Carver Care, a retailer of mobility aids, at £19,500 per annum exclusive on a new 10-year lease.
Meanwhile, Premier Coffee Ltd, trading as Costa Coffee, has signed a new 10-year lease at £66,000 per annum exclusive, including for a newly-extended corner unit of 159 sq m (1,710 sq ft) with external seating area.
Premier Coffee was represented throughout by Winchester-based Rob Powter & Co.
All of the leases are on a full repairing and insuring basis.
An existing unit is let to pharmacy Boots as part of the same development, which was a pre-let before Myddelton & Major’s involvement.
Four duplex apartments are also let on short-term leases.
The mixed-used development, anchored by the 3,066 sq m (33,000 sq ft) Waitrose foodstore and a 1,319 sq m (14,200 sq ft) medical centre, was built on land previously occupied by a former filling station and a motor dealership.
Myddelton & Major, headquartered in Salisbury and recently named the most active agent in Wiltshire by weekly property ‘bible’ Estates Gazette, works for a wide range of clients across the central southern region, including in Hampshire.
