LONDON-A Warner Estates joint venture is buying Birmingham's Pallasades Shopping Centre for euro 224 million ($267 million) from Capital & Regional's Mall Fund. The investment company is buying the 289,735-sf shopping center through a new property fund, Agora Max, which it has set up with joint-venture partner Bank of Scotland. The purchase price reflects a 5.36% yield. This will rise to 6% on reversion in September 2006.

The Pallasades, which is anchored by Argos, HMV and Woolworths and includes the 95,500-sf Ladywood House office block, sits on a strategic site above New Street Station and forms part of Network Rail and Birmingham City Council's plans for the redevelopment of the station. Warner officials say it had "already been in detailed discussions with both Network Rail and the City Council about the redevelopment" before the acquisition. Bride Hall will work on the development program.

Birmingham city center has benefited from large-scale redevelopment over the last five years," says Warner Estates operations director Michael Stevens. "Given the location, the Pallasades offers excellent potential."

Warner and BoS have already worked together on the Agora Shopping Centre Fund, which owns and manages seven shopping centers across the UK. Coupled with that fund's momentum to date, "Agora Max enables Warner Estate to invest in sub-regional shopping centers across the UK," Stevens comments. "We are confident that the consistently high returns achieved by Agora can be replicated in Agora Max."