WHITEWATER shopping centre in Newbridge is up for sale
The centre, which houses 63 retail units, 11 food court units and a six- screen cinema, went on the market this week with a quoting price of €150million.
The joint agents are Savills in Dublin and Coady Supple in London have been instructed to bring the freehold investment interest in Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge to the market this week for sale by private treaty.
Whitewater Shopping Centre opened in 2006 and along with retail units it includes 1,700 landlord controlled car parking spaces and 84 residential units. It is Ireland’s largest regional shopping centre with approximately 300,000 sq ft of retail space.
“The sale of Whitewater Shopping Centre has been keenly anticipated by many domestic and international investors looking for scale and security but potentially not willing to compete for the enormous scale which was offered through Project Jewel,” said a spokesperson for the selling agents.
“Based on the trends we are seeing both in Ireland and across Europe we believe this opportunity will command strong interest from domestic and global institutional capital, as well as a host of private equity investors who have been active in this sphere of late.”
“The quoting price, in excess of €150 million, equates to a net initial yield of approximately 7.5%. With an attractive Weighted Average Unexpired Lease Term (WAULT) in excess of eleven years, this top quality investment is expected to attract significant levels of interest from domestic and international investors looking for a quality retail investment with scale in a large and affluent catchment area.”
He added that the Newbridge centre benefits from a significant catchment area of over 310,000.
“Whitewater has established itself as the central focal point for the town centre and is complemented by an extensive range of additional shopping and leisure amenities. Accessed from Main Street and Cutlery Road, Whitewater is situated adjacent to TK Maxx, Penneys and The Courtyard Shopping Centre.”
The property is generating a net operating income of approximately €11.7 million per annum. Of this, 87% is generated from the shopping centre tenants and the remainder is generated from the car park and residential units.
“The prospect for a purchaser to grow this income in the short term is very positive with both footfall and consequently turnover improving markedly in Whitewater over the past 24 months. In addition there are a number of new letting prospects, which will further enhance yield prospects,” he added.
“The majority of leases are effectively full repairing and insuring by means of a comprehensive service charge. Approximately 25 of the tenancies incorporate turnover provisions providing potential income growth beyond current levels.”
