A Newry superstore has been sold for more than £30million in Northern Ireland’s largest investment property transaction this year, it is announced today.
The 93,000 sq ft Tesco Extra on the city’s Downshire Road was sold by Portadown-based Turkington Holdings to Scottish Widows Investment Partnership at a yield of 4.95%.
The recently completed building, which has over 500 parking spaces, was developed by the local company with the support of project funding from Ulster Bank.
Tesco, which has a 25-year lease, has been trading successfully from the property since taking occupation in June, where it now employs more than 300 people.
Trevor Turkington, Director of Turkington Holdings, says that the sale marks a real success story for the Northern Ireland economy.
“We worked in partnership with Ulster Bank and their dedicated lending and property teams to turn a derelict site into the base for a vibrant commercial enterprise, sustaining around 200 construction jobs in the process and enabling the creation of hundreds of new retail jobs for the long-term. Having worked with Ulster Bank we are now delighted to secure a strong sale price for the property from one of Europe’s largest asset managers,” he says.
Mr Turkington adds: “We would like to thank Ulster Bank for having significant confidence in our business and working with us over the long-term to enable the completion of the project. Ulster Bank’s support allowed us to realise the potential of the site, bring a major multiple retailer to the area, and successfully bring the asset to the market.”
Ellvena Graham, Head of Ulster Bank Northern Ireland, welcomed the deal: “We’re delighted to have supported a local development company in delivering positive economic benefits for the area.
“There have been a number of positive signs evident for the local economy in recent months, and the completion of this transaction is a further and welcome indication of returning confidence.”
The sale was completed by the Belfast office of commercial property agency CBRE, acting for Turkington Holdings. The Belfast office of Savills acted for the purchaser. Local solicitors Arthur Cox were the legal advisers to the vendor with Cleaver Fulton Rankin acting locally for the purchaser.
Brian Lavery, Managing Director of CBRE Belfast, says that the deal is a landmark sale for the local market: “This is certainly the largest investment property transaction in Northern Ireland this year and one of the largest that we have seen for a number of years. There have been signs of activity returning to the market and growing demand from a range of potential purchasers, including a number of large funds and institutions. We would expect to see further noteworthy transactions in the weeks and months ahead.”
Elaine Hughes, Investment Manager at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, says, “We're delighted to have secured this prime retail property in Newry on behalf of the SWIPPT. We believe this asset offers strong fundamentals with a high calibre tenancy and a secure long term income stream set against an improving Irish economy - factors which will help drive positive long term returns for the fund.”
