January 31, 2022
Fiera Real Estate, on behalf of the Fiera Real Estate Long Income Fund UK (“FRELIF”), has concluded a deal to forward commit on the acquisition of Kier Property’s Atlas retail scheme adjacent to the Great West Retail Park in Glasgow. The transaction was concluded at a price of £11.3m reflecting a 5.2% net initial yield.
The development is pre-let to The Range and Connection Flooring and will be sold once practical completion is achieved in March 2022.
The vacant site was purchased by Kier Property in 2017 and benefitted from existing planning permission and an agreement for lease with home, garden and leisure retailer ‘The Range’ for a 50,000 sq ft retail unit. An adjoining 3,000 sq ft retail unit has also been pre-let to Connection Flooring.
Leigh Thomas, managing director for Kier Property commented: “It’s great to finally bring this site forward which will bring much-needed development and employment to this part of Glasgow. Long dated income has remained resilient in a challenging market and it’s fantastic to get this concluded with Fiera Real Estate”.
Rupert Sheldon, Fund Manager of FRELIF and Head of Core REIM at Fiera Real Estate UK added: “We were delighted to close this transaction with Kier just before the Christmas break bringing an end to a very successful year for the fund. The transaction aligns well with the fund’s key metrics of long, strong and progressive income and should provide a solid platform for income growth off a modest rental base of only £11 psf and CPI rental uplifts collared and capped at 1% & 3% respectively.”