Retail park bought for £80m - commercial mortgages

11 February 2008

A retail park in London has been bought for £80 million in a move which those with commercial mortgages may see as a vote of confidence in the commercial property industry.

Goodman Property Investors has paid the sum for the Tower Retail Park in Crayford, in south-east London near the border with Kent, Propertyweek.com reports.

Speaking about the park, whose current occupiers include chains such as Boots, Next and Currys, Goodman''s managing director John O''Connor said: "This is an excellent investment opportunity as Tower Retail Park is in a prime location with immediate and long-term asset management potential."

The cost of the purchase, which was based on a yield of five per cent, was made up of £48.26 million in cash, with the rest to be raised by issuing new units at the site.

Recent research by Key Note suggested that the most valuable commercial property for the retail sector could be town centre locations, as 61.4 per cent of consumers regularly shopped there, compared with 38.9 per cent in retail parks and 44.8 per cent in out-of-town shopping centres.