DTZ acquires Edinburgh Waitrose and Kwik-Fit branches

DTZ Investors has acquired a Waitrose store and a Kwik-Fit branch at Morningside, Edinburgh, in a deal that exceeded the asking price of £18.5m.

The two properties are located on the same retail parade, with the Waitrose store comprising 33,347 sq ft of retail space whilst Kwik-Fit occupies the adjacent 12,795 sq ft garage.

Knight Frank – which acted for DTZ – said the two properties are amongst the brands’ strongest trading locations.

Euan Kelly, capital markets partner at Knight Frank in Edinburgh, said: “Both Waitrose and Kwik-Fit trade exceptionally well from their Morningside locations, with little in the way of nearby competition and an affluent local population. Broadly speaking, supermarkets are performing well, supported by solid fundamentals and long-term average growth of 4.1% in grocery sales, and we’re seeing strong demand from investors for these types of assets.

“More generally, the Scottish commercial property investment market has solidified in the last few months. While there is less stock available than we perhaps expected going into the tail end of the year, it is shaping up to be a busy first half to 2025, assuming the macro environment remains stable and interest rates continue on their current trajectory.”

Ewan Stewart, acquisitions manager at DTZ Investors, added: “We are delighted to complete on this acquisition. The fundamentals of the long leases to tenants with strong trading performance in an affluent neighbourhood in central Edinburgh are exactly where we are looking to invest. We look forward to doing further acquisitions with similar fundamentals.”

Savills represented the vendor, LaSalle.