LaSalle in the frame for £115m Warrington deal
LASALLE Investment Management has been chosen as the preferred bidder for Warrington’s Golden Square shopping centre which is on the market for around £115m.
The 764,000 sq ft site, in the centre of the town, is owned by a joint venture between Lend Lease and Legal & General, called Warrington Retail.
At Warrington’s annual property review yesterday, Steven Broomhead, chair of the town’s economic development body Warrington & Co, said: “LaSalle is the preferred bidder, and if that deal concludes it’s likely they’ll be making an investment in Golden Square along with our investment in Bridge Street.”
Warrington & Co is working with Muse Developments on a £52m regeneration project around Bridge Street which will see the town’s market move to the former Boots building and new offices and leisure units replace the existing market.
Lend Lease bought into Golden Square in 2005, acquiring a 50% stake for £20m from Legal & General. At that point it was 310,000 sq ft but an extension more than doubled the size.
The town’s annual property review, pictured, reflected a significant increase in demand in office, industrial and investment markets.
Industrial take-up was the highest recorded since the review began in 1998 thanks
to a number of major deals at the Omega logistics park at the old Burtonwod air base.
Total take-up was nearly 2 million sq ft, up 31% on a previous high recorded in 2010.
The investment market was up 75% on the previous year with £140m of assets were traded. Standard Life paid £58.6m for the Travis Perkins shed at Omega and LaSalle Investment Management paid £14 million for Hermes’ new building at the site.
Warrington had its highest level of office market activity since 2001 with take-up exceeding 323,000 sq ft. Retail has been slower but Warrington & Co hopes the Golden Square deal and the Bridge Street scheme could breath new life into the town centre.
