Project
Banks Long & Co were instructed to act on behalf of the specialist investment and development company Temple Garth (a joint venture between Castle Square Developments and The Lindum Group) in acquiring and assembling around 3 acres of land from Associated British Foods and The Lincolnshire Cooperative, in the process selling an element of the total site to Lidl for a food store.
Our Retail Agency team were then tasked with formulating a marketing strategy that identified and attracted well-established national brands to commit to taking the available space on the retail park, to achieve full occupancy and in turn maximise its investment value to then be sold to a prospective purchaser.
Approach
After completing the acquisition of the land our Retail Agency team marketed the scheme to prospective tenants.
Through an extensive network of contacts and knowledge of the retail sector, the agents identified a demand for retail warehousing in this location, targeting specific retailers with a desire for a presence in this area of the city.
As the letting agents on the scheme, Banks Long & Co utilised their knowledge of the retail warehouse market locally, regionally and nationally to identify and secure B&M Bargains (22,000 sq.ft. with a garden centre) as its anchor tenant, closely followed by JYSK (7,000 sq.ft) and Sue Ryder (5,000 sq.ft.).
It was important to ensure that the covenant strength of all the retailers met the developer criteria. The strategy here was to arrange the sale of the development upon Practical Completion. Therefore, the lease terms and tenant covenants were critical factors in building up the development and procurement model.
Once the lease agreements had been negotiated and completed, Banks Long & Co project managed the development with local construction company Lindum Group.
Results
After successfully signing up the three tenants on Agreement for Leases and advising throughout the planning process, the development was completed on time and the lettings to the three retailers completed. This allowed the scheme to be forward sold to a Local Authority buyer who has since instructed Banks Long & Co to manage the development.
The development delivered the required return for the developer and the retail park has traded exceptionally well since opening for trade-in in early 2019. The fundamentals with this site were strong and Banks Long & Co recognised the opportunity in the market at that time due to the company’s extensive reach into the retail occupancy markets and awareness of the movements and trends within the property investment sector.
