Salmon Harvester Properties has acquired the freehold of a prime retail and leisure development opportunity in Sutton Coldfield from Administrators at PWC appointed over Spring (Sutton Coldfield) Ltd., part of Castlemore Securities (in administration). The agreed price was £6.4m
Cordatus Real Estate, acting as asset managers on behalf of PWC, has secured planning consent for a 68,624 sq ft retail led development on the 2.73 acre site in Mere Green – an affluent part of Sutton Coldfield. In addition Cordatus secured pre-lets to M&S and Boots as well extending the occupation of Greene King. In total some 36% of the scheme is pre-let and expected development costs are around £17.5m.
M&S has signed for a 16,178 sq ft store on a 20 year lease, Boots has agreed a 10 year deal for 3,544 sq ft while Greene King, operating as Old Speckled Hen, has committed to a new 10 year lease in its existing 4,500 sq ft unit. Three other stores in the 11-unit scheme are under offer.
Matthew Hammond, Partner at PWC and joint Administrator for Spring said: “We are delighted that we have secured the sale of this site to Salmon Harvester. The price achieved fully justifies our strategy of holding this asset through the planning stage and securing the pre-lets to major retailers. Salmon are a very credible developer and very well placed to deliver this scheme to the community”
Rorie Henderson, Development Director at Salmon Harvester said: “This is a superb ‘oven-ready’ development opportunity in an affluent location and as such we had to fight off some stiff competition. We are delighted with the pre-letting success to date and there are numerous discussions taking place with other potential occupiers.”
Construction work is due to start in July 2015 with completion scheduled August 2016.
Cushman & Wakefield advised the vendor, HSM represented Salmon Harvester. Rowley Thompson are letting agents.