Even At A £170M Loss, This Retail Sale Collapsed Because The Price Wasn't Cheap Enough
The collapse in confidence in traditional brick-and-mortar retail property has claimed another victim, as the £90M sale of the Fort Shopping Park, Birmingham, collapsed.
Delancey was understood to be in talks with owner Nuveen and its partners CBRE Global Investors and M&G Real Estate for the 303K SF retail park.
The deal, which had it been agreed would have been £40M below the original asking price, is now off, React News reported.
The centre last changed hands at the height of the boom in 2006. The £130M asking price had been reported as half the 2006 sale price.
Delancey was reported to be partnering Sovereign Centros in the deal, React said.
Tenants at the Fort include Boots, Debenhams, H&M, Next, New Look, Marks & Spencer, River Island, Topshop, Schuh, Moss and Mothercare.
Nuveen did not respond to Bisnow's request for comment.
Earlier this month the lack of investor enthusiasm for UK regional retail was starkly revealed when German lender Deutsche Pfandbriefbank sold a secondary shopping centre asset for 15% less than the value of the debt secured against it in order to get it off its balance sheet. The 298K SF Houndshill shopping centre in Blackpool was previously owned by South African company New Frontier Properties. The centre was purchased from Blackstone for £105M in 2014, and the bank provided a £57M loan to facilitate the purchase. The centre was sold to the local council for £48M.
