Covent Garden Put Up for Sale at $754M

(For more retail coverage, click GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)

LONDON-Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and Henderson Global Investors have put Covent Garden piazza and market hall up for sale for euro 584.93 million ($753.6 million)–a price tag that reflects a 3.5% initial yield. The Covent Garden Market LP, a joint venture between Swip and Henderson, have appointed investment agent Joiner Cummings to handle the sale.

Swip and Henderson decided to put the trophy building up after receiving an unsolicited offer of euro 523.5 million ($674.5 million) from a private investor. The price was 10% above the December valuation. A sale at euro 584.9 million ($753.6 million) would reflect an initial yield of 3.5%.

The site comprises 255,000 sf in 35 buildings that generate euro 23.3 million ($28.8 million) a year in rent. Just fewer than half the units are let to retailers, the remainder being offices.

The jewel in the crown are the famous market buildings located primarily around a piazza. But the estate also includes properties on surrounding streets, such as Henrietta Street, Maiden Lane, Wellington Street and Tavistock Street. Swip bought the site in 2000 and then sold a 50% stake to Henderson and in 2001 the two investors set up a limited partnership specifically to hold the Covent Garden properties.

The market was designed in 1632 by Inigo Jones and developed by the Earl of Bedford with the backing of King Charles I as a fruit and vegetable market. It was also the UK’s first public square and first example of town planning. The wholesale produce market moved to New Covent Garden Market in South London in 1973 and Covent Garden piazza and market hall were renovated. Many of the buildings now have conservation orders protecting them.

It now ranks alongside Camden Market and second only to the Tower of London as the UK’s biggest tourist attraction. An estimated 30 million tourists visit the shopping area each year.