Property round-up: Money Shop expands in North West; MIOC off to a flyer; and more
US-based payday loans firm The Money Shop has opened more units in the North West.
The company, which is owned by Dollar Financial, has completed six recent deals for units at Altrincham, Leigh, Sale, Cheetham Hill, and at Piccadilly and Deansgate in Manchester, and said it has a further six in solicitors’ hands.
The company currently trades from almost 450 UK stores and is targeting a further 100 sites by the end of the year.
It is being advised by Andrew Frazer of Manchester-based property consultancy Scott Frazer.
He said: “Myself and Andrew Hynes have been advising The Money Shop on their high street expansion across the UK.
“In what is a tough retail property market at the moment we have been able to improve the trading position of The Money Shop from the more traditional edge of high street location to more prime positions.
“I am particularly keen to hear from landlords with A2 vacant properties to let or existing tenants looking to assign /sub-let their space in those towns where The Money Shop is not represented.”
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THREE new tenants have signed up to take space at Manchester International Office Centre.
Software company Printsoft, has taken 1,548 sq ft suite on a five-year lease and aviation logistics company Flash V One has taken 1,924 sq ft on a five-year lease. In addition, cable designer and manufacturer Belden has agreed a new 10-year lease on its existing 8,000 sq ft office suite.
Knight Frank and WHR advised landlord Infinity Asset Management on the lettings.
Paul Kelly, associate at Knight Frank, said: “It’s been a great start to the year for MIOC. The office suites provide an excellent working environment to suit the demands of today’s occupier.
Being in such a prominent landmark office building, we’re not surprised that there is now less than 8,000 sq ft left available to let.”
Josh Levy of WHR said: “We have seen increased activity in Greater Manchester, with a focus on Central Manchester and the airport, through the launch of Airport City. MIOC is well-positioned to provide the necessary platform for companies to strive.”
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BROOKS Macdonald Funds has said that its Channel Islands-listed Ground Rents Fund has purchased the ground rent of a landmark new-build development in Bradford, West Yorkshire at a cost of £1.1m.
The Gatehaus apartment complex, situated on Leeds Road, consists of 142 residential units. The one, two and three bedroom apartments are located in three buildings around a central courtyard.
Brooks Macdonald Funds business comprises the formerly-listed Braemar business based in Hale.
It said the ground rents currently in its portfolio provide a total gross yield of 6.91%.
James Agar, development director of Brooks Macdonald Funds and Braemar Estates, said: “We continue to acquire assets as a result of our close relationships with administrators and corporate clients such as PwC, who were appointed on this development.
“We are very well positioned at the moment to complete on a number of large deals in Q1 and Q2 of this year, with our first acquisitions in central London.
“These transactions will allow the fund to be fully invested in the sector, reducing the cash drag on performance which we saw in 2011, and providing the Fund with additional scale as we look to increase assets under management.”
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THE freehold of 3 Century Park at Pacific Road in Altrincham has been sold by the Mead Trust Partnership to a private pension for £270,000.
The building – a self-contained office with an open-plan assembly area, contains around 5,000 sq ft of space on ground and first floors and comes with seven car parking spaces.
Regional Property Solutions and DTZ acted for the vendor. The purchaser was unrepresented.
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Discount retailer Poundland has opened its first unit on the Isle of Man after securing a 28,532 sq ft unit.
Joint letting agents Cheetham & Mortimer and Gooch Cunliffe Whale completed the letting of the former Woolworths unit at 32-36 Strand Street to Habco Properties, which has taken the store on a new 10-year year lease.
Poundland, which now has 347 stores in the UK, recently announced its expansion into Europe, where it will trade as ‘Dealz’. The new Isle of Man store is now open and trading as part of this new concept.
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DTZ has secured a number of new lettings at the Broughton Court development at Cheetham Hill in north Manchester on behalf of Isra Developments.
The most recent deals is to fashion wholesaler, Nova of London, which has taken two units totaling 6,000 sq ft. This follows recent deals with wholesalers Edge Clothing and Justin.
Alex Smylie, senior surveyor at DTZ, said: “Broughton Court is emerging as a popular destination for fashion retailers and wholesalers. The site is currently 45% occupied and we are receiving strong interest in the remaining units.”
