Cordatus on the fast track with £15m sale of Stevenage Retail Park
Cordatus Real Estate the UK asset and development management specialist, has completed its latest investment sale with the disposal of Stevenage Retail Park to Threadneedle Property Unit Trust for £15m.
The 58,000 sq ft Park, which is occupied by brands including PC World, Halfords and Laura Ashley, formed part of the Castlemore Securities portfolio over which PWC was appointed as RPA Receiver in February 2009.
Cordatus was instructed as asset manager in May 2010 and, against a relatively restrictive planning environment, broadended the scope of the planning consent to Open A1 non-food to enhance the range of tenants that could occupy the park. In addition cordatus secured a new lease of a previously vacant unit on a 10 year term to American Golf at an attractive rent.
The £15m disposal price reflects a net initial yield of 7.0%.
Cordatus has developed a niche capability for managing and enhancing values for distressed assets. This latest disposal is in line with the Administrator’s aspiration to reposition and dispose of the site and, having actively managed the Park in order to increase its value, Cordatus has now sold the site at an optimum time in the market to maximise returns for the Administrator.
Matthew Hammond, Partner at PWC, said, “£15m is a solid return and reflects the repositioning of the Park that Cordatus has helped us to achieve. The wide marketing of this asset created some competitive bidding which, in turn, has generated an attractive price for the Administration. It is a very satisfactory result.”
Michael Cunningham, Director at Cordatus, commented, “We are delighted to have secured the disposal of this asset to a high-calibre institutional investor. We executed our asset management plan effectively and it was the right time to sell to maximise returns.”
