Orchard Street snaps up 193,000 sq ft Leicester Retail Park
Orchard Street Investment Management has acquired St George’s Retail Park in Leicester on behalf of its impact fund, the Orchard Street Social & Environmental Impact Partnership, from Tritax Big Box.
Located half a mile from Leicester City Centre, the 193,000 sq ft retail park comprises 16 fully-let units, housing tenants such as Home Bargains, Pets at Home, Iceland, Aldi, and Costa Coffee.
Orchard Street said the acquisition presents opportunities to evolve the tenant mix in the short-term whilst also decarbonising the asset in line with the impact fund’s social and economic objectives. The fund will look to undertake carbon refurbishments across the scheme – much of which was built during the 1980s – to improve EPC ratings from D-B to A, as well as electrify units to reduce carbon emissions, install solar panel arrays, and increase EV charging provision.
Barney Rowe, portfolio manager of the impact fund at Orchard Street Social & Environmental Impact Partnership, said, “This is a popular retail park drawing on a very large catchment, proven by the calibre of existing tenants and high levels of customer footfall. We strongly believe the combination of the opportunities to reposition the tenant line up alongside the decarbonisation measures we intend to make will see St George’s Retail Park become a best-in-class retail park generating significant value for our investors.”
Park Palace Retail acted for Orchard Street, whilst Staunton Whiteman acted on behalf of Tritax Big Box.