Orchard Street acquires Manchester retail park for £63 million from The Crown Estate

Orchard Street Investment Management (‘Orchard Street’), the specialist commercial property investment manager, announces that it has completed the acquisition of Altrincham Retail Park in Greater Manchester from The Crown Estate for £63.05 million. The acquisition has been made on behalf of St James’s Place Property Unit Trust and represents a net initial yield of 6.96%.

Situated in the affluent commuter suburb of Altrincham, eight miles South-West of Manchester city centre, the retail park comprises 218,764 sq ft of accommodation across 13 retail warehouse units and two standalone restaurants, in addition to 927 on-site car parking spaces. The fully-let asset has a diverse and attractive tenant mix that includes international fashion outlet TK Maxx, DIY retailer Homebase and fast food operator McDonald’s, drawing approximately four million shoppers annually. The asset has a WAULT of 5.2 years and the total rental income is £4,683,535 per year, reflecting an average rent of £21.40 per sq ft.

Altrincham Retail Park benefits from excellent transport links being located three miles south of the M60 orbital motorway while the property fronts onto the Manchester Road, A56, which provides direct access to Manchester city centre. The town of Altrincham is also well served by public transportation, with the recently developed Altrincham Interchange providing a bus station, railway station and Metrolink stop.

The Crown Estate, established by Act of Parliament, is not able to borrow, and as such, sales are an important part of raising capital for reinvestment across the business.

Tom Chadwick, Associate Partner at Orchard Street, commented:

“We’re pleased to make this yield-accretive acquisition which presents immediate asset management opportunities to improve the WAULT and benefits from the affluent Altrincham catchment.”

Geoff Ford, for The Crown Estate’s Regional Portfolio, said:

“Altrincham Retail Park has performed well and helped us to build critical mass within the retail sector. As an actively traded portfolio, sales such as this one play, an important role in helping to raise capital for reinvestment across the business, where we continue to deliver brilliant shopping and leisure destinations”

Orchard Street was advised on this by Savills, while The Crown Estate was advised by Wilkinson Williams.