3rd Oct 2005 10:24
British Land Co PLC03 October 2005 3 October 2005 £52 MILLION OF HIGH STREET PROPERTY SALES AND KEY LETTING TO MARKS & SPENCER AT TEESSIDE SHOPPING PARK British Land has sold profitably nine retail properties from its High Streetportfolio for a total of £52.25m. The properties comprise five prime high street shops in Edinburgh, Aberdeen,Kingston Upon Thames and Leeds which have been sold for a total of £33.59mreflecting an average initial yield of 3.89%. Two in-town supermarkets have alsobeen sold, one let to Morrisons in Kidderminster, which has been sold for £7.47mshowing an initial yield of 4.5%, and the other let to Somerfield in Helston,Cornwall, which has been sold for £4.1m showing an initial yield of 5.66%.Finally, two short leaseholds in Birmingham and Newbury have been sold for £7.1mreflecting an initial yield of 6.22%. The sales are the results of an on-going review of the performance of eachproperty within the portfolio and the sub 4% yield achieved on the prime shopsreflects the continued buoyant market for retail investments. More sales fromthe High Street portfolio are being planned. In a separate asset management initiative, British Land has reached agreementwith Marks & Spencer for them to take a newly created 33,000 sq ft store atTeesside Shopping Park. The opening, which is planned for the Spring of 2006,will reaffirm Teesside's status as a regional Shopping Park. The addition of Marks & Spencer to the 340,000 sq ft open A1 Shopping Park is amajor step forward and the store will be a significant draw for shoppers. Theletting is part of an on-going strategy of improving the tenant line-up andtherefore offering better choice to shoppers. In recent months lettings havebeen agreed with other leading retailers such as Borders, Sportsworld andT K Maxx, joining a retail line-up which already includes Next, Boots, Outfit,PC World and W H Smith. In the process top rents achieved on the Park have movedforward to £40 per sq ft. Agents acting on the sales and the lettings, on behalf of British Land, wereColliers CRE and Wilkinson Williams. Contacts: The British Land Company PLC John Weston Smith 020 7467 2899Tim Roberts 020 7467 2977 FinsburyGordon Simpson 020 7251 3801 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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