North West firm announces £30.5m sale of six Toys ‘R’ Us sites

Toys R Us

Chorley-based asset and property management company FI Real Estate Management has announced the sale of six former Toys ‘R’ Us properties for £30.5m.

The former stores include sites in Liverpool and Shrewsbury and total 222,319 sq. ft of retail space and have been sold to a variety of buyers.

An undisclosed retailer has purchased three prime properties in Liverpool (Paisley Street, L3 7AN), Shrewsbury (Meole Brace Retail Park, SY3 9NB) and York (Clifton Moor Centre, YO30 4WZ) adding an additional 91,188 sq. ft to its portfolio of stores.

Cardiff Council has completed the purchase of a 40,000 sq ft unit, located opposite Cardiff International Pool.
The 41,360 sq. ft property located in Woking has been sold to a private buyer and an undisclosed buyer has transacted a 49,771 sq. ft unit on Western Approach, in Plymouth city centre.

A spokesperson for FI Real Estate Management, said: “We recognised the appeal of a selection of properties within the Duke portfolio to successful out of town retail operators and as prime development opportunities.

“The six properties sold to date reflect the healthy appetite for prime sites and demonstrates our ability to unlock asset value by ensuring we utilise an intelligent and appropriate commercial approach.

“We are also in the final stages of securing a further four sales and are in negotiations to split many of the units to let to strong retail brands.”

FI Real Estate Management has worked in conjunction with integrated loan servicing and advisory firm, Solutus and was appointed in March to provide full asset, property and facilities management services to the 31 assets, which comprised the freehold and long leasehold portfolio of the former Toys ‘R’ Us estate.

Cushman & Wakefield and Morgan Williams are the acting sales agents for the portfolio.

The Duke portfolio, which spans the UK and is 1,872,409 sq ft in total, was put intSpecial Servicing with integrated loan servicing and advisory firm, Solutus, following Toys ‘R’ Us (UK) Ltd entering administration in February.

The portfolio is owned by Toys R Us Properties (UK) Ltd which currently has secured debt of £263m.

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close