British Land Boosts Retail Holdings with Edinburgh Purchase

LONDON-British Land has bought the Meadowbank Retail Park in Edinburgh for £30 million ($47 million). The park provides 149,000 sf of retail space with an open retail consent, and includes a Sainsbury superstore together with units for JJB Sports, TK Maxx and Au Naturale among others.

An additional £1 million ($1.6 million) is payable on the successful completion of a fast food unit at the park which has been pre-let to Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The current average rent is only £12.50 ($20) per sf but following settlement of outstanding and imminent rent reviews, the property running is expected to show a yield of 7%.

At the same time British land has agreed the sale of over £250 million ($400 million) of property including a number of retail units from the BL Universal portfolio, BL’s jointventure with Great Universal Stores, two distribution warehouse units from BLT Properties, the joint venture with Tesco, and several residential properties.