Northern Ireland’s Abbey Centre sold to new owner for £59m
The 320,000 sq ft shopping centre, located six miles north of Belfast City Centre in Newtownabbey, houses over 70 shops
Abbey Centre in Northern Ireland has been sold by NewRiver to The Herbert Group of Companies in an off market deal for £58.8m. The 320,000 sq ft shopping centre, located six miles north of Belfast City Centre in Newtownabbey, houses over 70 shops and has a “strong” convenience offer, together with a popular food court and a doctors surgery.
Having owned the site since 2014, NewRiver has completed a number of successful initiatives at the centre, improving occupancy, which currently sits at 99%, tenant mix and rental tone.
Highlights include: creating a new 44,00 sq ft flagship store for Next; upsizing River Island, Poundland, The Works and Superdrug; delivering an upsized Primark into a former BHS unit and overseeing a Dunnes refurbishment and 15,000 sq ft extension.
A refurbishment programme for the entrance, car park and revitalised food court was also completed.
NewRiver said it expects to reinvest the capital into “opportunities with superior income and capital growth potential”.
Allan Lockhart, CEO, said: “This off market sale of Newtownabbey is a great example of our specialist platform capabilities, from our disciplined stock selection to transforming the asset into one of the most successful shopping centres in the region and then securing a successful exit at book value.
“Capital recycling is one of our growth drivers and we believe the success of our asset management initiatives has extracted the maximum value from this asset.”
He added: “We remain on track with other disposals and so whilst this sale brings our LTV to below our guidance, in due course we expect to recycle our capital into opportunities with superior income and capital growth potential. This sale also demonstrates the continuing improvement in investor demand for UK shopping centres.”
