Retail park in affluent suburb of Glasgow sold for almost £12 million

A retail park in an affluent suburb of Glasgow has changed hands in a deal worth almost £12 million.

The two units at West Retail Park in Milngavie, which lies to the north of the city, are let to discount supermarket Aldi and general goods retailer Home Bargains until June 2039 and June 2034 respectively.

The units have been acquired by First World Hybrid Real Estate (FWHRE), an Isle of Man regulated fund, listed on the International Stock Exchange (TISE).

Bosses noted that over the past 24 months, both supermarket and discount retail assets have been “highly sought after”, with investors attracted by the retailers’ resilient trading performances and the long leases that characterise the sector.

West Retail Park in Milngavie is home to Aldi and Home Bargains stores.

The purchase price at West Retail Park of £11.7m reflected a net initial yield of 4.86 per cent.

Property firms Lismore Real Estate Advisors and Avison Young jointly advised the purchaser, whilst Sheridan Keane acted for the vendor.

Last month, Lismore Real Estate Advisors said investment in Scottish commercial property had held up in the face of volatile market conditions with a “wall of overseas capital” chasing prime assets.

Releasing its latest review, Lismore said the investment market had “fared surprisingly well” with investment volumes trading at just under £1.35 billion in 2021, a 24 per cent increase on the total for 2020.

The emergence of the Omicron variant and the return of restrictions “continues to bring challenges across the entire property market and global economy”, the firm added, but fourth-quarter trading remained strong at some £520m, up 27 per cent on the closing three months of 2020.

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