Axis Retail Partners - a retail investment advisory and asset management boutique founded by Florencio Beccar and Toby Smith in partnership with Generali - has exchanged contracts to buy St Georges Shopping Centre in greater London from RDI REIT.
The purchase was closed off market at a net initial yield of 8.3% on behalf of pension fund clients of LaSalle Global Partner Solutions.
The shopping centre, in the town of Harrow, was refurbished in 2015 and sits at the end of the bustling high street, with a 3-minute walk from Harrow on the Hill station and a 20-minute journey to Central London. St Georges has an annual footfall of 9 million customers who are attracted by the 215,000 ft2 (20,000 m2) of convenience and value retail, with leisure and F&B anchors across more than 30 units on two retail levels and three levels of parking above.
Occupiers include TK Maxx, Boots, Deichmann, Wilkos, Nandos, Tortilla, Pizza Express and a state of the art 12-screen Vue cinema who have recently undertaken a full refit. The scheme is now fully let following several new lettings that have recently completed including H&M, Puttstars, Haute Dolce and Trespass, and holds a “Very Good” BREEAM In Use rating.
Toby Smith, Axis’ co-founder and chief investment officer, said: ‘We are very pleased with having been able to execute our first UK deal. We have been active in the UK market for almost 2 years and believe that now is the right time to start investing as the market starts to recover from Covid, which continues to be the ultimate stress test to the sector. We are focusing on assets which are relevant retail destinations and that have a demonstrated track record of strong performance, a rebased rental level and offer an attractive income yield to our clients. If all this verifies, we believe this entry point is extremely compelling with attractive capital values on a per square foot basis.’
Said Robert Jewell, Axis’ UK managing director. ‘I have joined Axis at this exciting juncture as I am convinced we are at a turning point in the market which is shifting towards a Continental European model where relationships with our tenants will be more transparent and we will manage on the basis of the actual performance of retailers at our centres,’
