Columbia Threadneedle adds retail park duo to portfolio

^{Merry Hill Retail Park (L) and Phoenix Retail Park}

Columbia Threadneedle Real Estate has acquired two retail parks on behalf of separate client funds, adding 315,000 sq ft of space to its portfolio.

The acquisitions include Phases 2 and 3 of Merry Hill Retail Park in Brierley Hill and Phoenix Retail Park in Corby, and follow Columbia Threadneedle Real Estate’s purchase of Parkgate Shopping Park in Yorkshire earlier this year.

Phases 2 and 3 of Merry Hill Retail Park sit on a 15-acre site and comprise a combined 197,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space, supplemented by around 600 free parking spaces. Anchor tenants include The Range, Currys, Wren Kitchens, DFS and Pets at Home, trading from units ranging from 1,900 sq ft to circa 52,000 sq ft.

The retail park is also complemented by the significant retail and leisure provision in the adjacent Merry Hill Shopping Centre. The combined retail cluster draws a large shopping catchment of over 540,000 people within a 20-minute drivetime.

Phoenix Retail Park in Corby, Northamptonshire, offers 118,200 sq ft of retail warehouse space and is let to anchor tenants including M&S Foodhall, Matalan, The Range, Currys, Next, and The Food Warehouse.

The food, discount, and convenience-led retail park adjoins a 95,000 sq ft Asda superstore, whilst the town of Corby has seen significant population growth over the last decade – with more forecast thanks to a residential development pipeline of over 12,000 new homes.

Tom Elviss, fund manager at Columbia Threadneedle Real Estate, said: “The simultaneous acquisition of both Phases 2 and 3 at Merry Hill Retail Park from two separate vendors constitutes a majority holding at one of the UK’s dominant retail warehouse clusters in the West Midlands. This presents a significant opportunity to maximise the assets’ potential under single ownership.

“Phoenix Retail Park is set to benefit from Corby’s sizeable residential development pipeline, which brings with it a catchment growth proposition that will allow us to enhance the tenant mix further.

“At both locations, we intend to draw on our strong retailer relationships and scale in the retail warehouse market as we seek to proactively asset manage the holdings to deliver strong returns for our investors.”

For the Merry Hill transaction, Harvey Spack Field acted for the purchaser, whilst Morgan Williams represented the vendors. Savills advised the purchaser on the Phoenix Retail Park acquisition, whilst Knight Frank represented the vendor.