Two Scottish Waitrose stores sold as part of huge £35m deal

Town Centre Securities, the regional property investor and car park operator, has sold two Scottish Waitrose stores as part of a deal totalling more than £35 million.

The properties trading as Waitrose stores in Milngavie, above, and Glasgow have changed hands as part of the overall property investment deal. Picture: Emma Mitchell

The stock market-listed firm said it had sealed property investment deals for the Waitrose stores in Milngavie and Glasgow, along with an Aldi/Home Bargains store in Milngavie and a high street retail store in Chiswick, London, for £35.2m.

The Waitrose branches have been sold as a single lot to Wire Oast on a freehold basis for £23.2m. Unconditional contracts have been exchanged with a completion date agreed of 8 October. The stores are total some 70,000 square feet and will continue to trade as Waitrose stores.

The Aldi/Home Bargains store has been sold to Magell on a freehold basis for just under £10.7m. The site totals 36,500 sq ft and is currently let to Aldi and Home Bargains.

The firm said contracts have been exchanged and will complete following the completion of the sale of the two Scottish Waitrose stores.

Meanwhile, the sale of the London property took place through an auction process in August. The site is let to a local florist on the ground floor with residential upper floors. It sold for £1.4m.

Edward Ziff, chairman and chief executive of Town Centre Securities, said: “We have successfully navigated an extremely difficult period as a result of the Covid-19 disruption, and have continued to receive high levels of rent receipts.

“That said it has become increasingly clear that we need to reset and reinvigorate the business.”

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