Hammerson Makes Retail Park Debut With Swansea Deal

LONDON-Hammerson has agreed to pay Eddie Healey’s Stadium Group £57.7 million ($88 million) for the freehold of Fforest-fach Retail Park in Swansea, South Wales. The 145,000-sf scheme is currently under construction and is due for completion later this month.

Once fully let, the scheme will provide a total rental income of around £3.4 million ($5.2 million). Currently about 62% of the space has been leased. Retailers already signed include Borders, JJB Sports, Next, Arcadia, WH Smith, Birthdays and Pizza Hut.

Fforest-fach is located north-west of Swansea, close to Junction 47 of the M4 motorway and the city centre. The scheme has the benefit of an open A1 retail classification and will provide 14 units ranging in size from 4,300 sf to 21,500 sf with 500 car park spaces. Next to the park is a 100,000-sf Tesco Extra store which opened in September 2001.

Hammerson Chief Executive John Richards explained the move into a new sector: “The retail warehouse sector has performed very strongly over the past few years and we believe that it continues to offer excellent growth potential. Our strong contacts with retailers will enable us to capitalise on the substantial synergies between prime retail parks and our shopping centres. We are reviewing further selected opportunities in the sector, both in the UK and continental Europe.”

Hammerson was represented by Harvey Spack Field. The vendor was represented by Stockford Staunton and the Smith Young Partnership.