Savills have put Bloomfield Shopping Centre and Retail Park in Bangor on the market with a guide price of £54m (€73m).

The asking price reflects a net initial yield of 7.75%.

The out of town retail scheme totals 418,000 sq ft and generates a combined rental income of £4.66m. The shopping centre is anchored by M&S and Tesco, with a new 34,870 sq ft “Next” store due to open in April 2016. Retail park tenants include Laura Ashley, DW Sports and Pets at Home.

Savills say the centre is prominently situated on the Bangor South Circular Road, five miles north of Newtownards and 14 miles north east of Belfast.

Mark Garmon-Jones, investment director at Savills, commented: “Bloomfield Shopping Centre and Retail Park dominates the retail offer in Bangor. “This popular scheme will be further enhanced with the addition of a new full offer Next which has already led to an increase in tenant demand,” he added.

Bloomfield has been in receivership since February last year. Ulster Bank the fixed charge receiver at the time. It is part of the portfolio of Donegall Place Investments Ltd, a joint venture company between Michael Herbert’s Lebreh Ltd and businessman Pat McCormack.

This is the third big retail centre in Northern Ireland to go up for sale in recent weeks.

Junction One and The Outlet have gone on the market with an overall guide price of around £60m. The shopping park giants are up for grabs after being put on the market by London-based property firm DTZ.

Both businesses have each faced their own problems over the years since setting up shop here.

A massive retail site located just outside Antrim, Junction One was first set up in 2004, boasting a range of big names, but in the latest set of published accounts for Junction One Ltd, it was valued at less than £8m. That’s around a tenth of its value back in 2009.

Speaking about the sale, Leona Barr, centre manager for Junction One, said it welcomes the sale “as it brings great potential for future development and continued investment”.

She said “core tenants” such as Marks & Spencer, Next and Adidas had recently extended their leases.

Businesses at Junction One employ more than 1,000 staff.

“We believe that the time is right for new owners to build on the success already achieved and to input additional investment to enable the complex to reach its full potential,” Ms Barr said.

Junction One is being sold by the borrower with consent from Ulster Bank, along with administrators who are representing previous shareholders.

The Outlet park was opened in 2007 at a cost of £70m. It counts a number of big name brands among its tenants, including Marks & Spencer, Gap Outlet and DKNY Jeans.

These are the latest in a string of shopping centres to be put on the market in recent months.

In February, the Cornerstone Portfolio of regional centres were put up for sale on the instructions of receivers Paul McCann and Stephen Tennant of Grant Thornton with an asking price of €115m.

The portfolio includes includes Athlone Town Centre, majority interest in MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre in Kilkenny, Gorey Shopping Centre in Wexford, Tipp Town Centre in Tipperary, Westside Shopping Centre in Galway and Orwell Shopping Centre in Templeogue in Dublin.

Article by The Independent