£2.6bn real estate fund completes flurry of leasing activity across retail portfolio

As part of Bdaily’s latest feature, Retail Week, we hear from London based Schroders Capital UK Real Estate Fund (SCREF) team, which has announced another wave of retail leasing activity to take its portfolio to 93 per cent let by ERV.

Among the leasing activity is a 15-year lease SCREF’s team has secured with UK pet supplies retailer Pets at Home for a 7,500 sq ft unit at its Winfrey Avenue Retail Park in Spalding, Lincolnshire.

Pets at Home will move into the former M&S and Carphone Warehouse at Winfrey Avenue Retail Park in the centre of Spalding, which is also home to leading occupiers B&Q and Iceland, taking the asset to 100 per cent occupied.

The Fund also recently announced a series of new retail and F&B lettings at two of its larger retail assets in Bracknell and Romford. At The Lexicon in Bracknell the centre saw the opening of a new 40,000 sq ft flagship Sport Direct which will also feature sister brands USC, GAME and Evans Cycles.

The new store will be located within Princess Square which recently underwent a £30m refurbishment as The Lexicon looks to continue its efforts of combining “innovative” retail, placemaking and regeneration to enhance Bracknell’s town centre.

The Lexicon also agreed a combined 22,041 sq ft of new lettings, which included a letting to popular Thai restaurant Giggling Squid and women’s clothing store Quiz, to take the asset to over 90 per cent let.

Meanwhile, at The Brewery in Romford, SCREF’s team recently secured 18,907 sq ft of lettings to leading operators Turtle Bay, Wagamama and Five Guys, as well as a lease extension with Cosmo.

The deals take The Brewery to 98 per cent let by ERV following SCREF’s £162m acquisition of the scheme in January in partnership with Zurich Investment Foundation Immobilien Europa Direkt (IED, a Schroders Capital managed, pan-European strategy).

Furthermore, at SCREF’s mixed-use asset on Mile End Road, Central London, the Fund agreed a new 5-year reversionary lease with Sports Direct. These lettings have taken SCREF’s retail portfolio to 93 per cent let by ERV.

Tom Woolven, asset manager at SCREF, commented: “Our retail and leisure portfolio benefits from being strategically located in strong locations across the UK. Our assets benefit from a good tenant mix ranging from discount retailers to popular and relevant leisure experiences which generate healthy footfall and attract new, complementary occupiers.

“The success of our portfolio is thanks to our team’s partnership and hospitality approach with our tenants which allows us to adapt our assets in order to improve our occupiers’ trading performance and tackle the challenges brought about by the pandemic and online shopping.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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