Gray’s shopping centre in the popular Essex commuter town has been sold by Allsop for £20.2m on behalf of Lone Star and Ellandi. The shopping centre was purchased by New River REIT.
The sale comes despite the widely reported challenges in the sector and is one of only a small number of shopping centres to successfully sell this year.
Grays, which is located just 23 miles from London, benefits from a regular train service to London Fenchurch Street in just 36 minutes. The local area is undergoing a renaissance having benefited from the opening of a new £45m South East Essex College campus catering for 2,000 students. The area is also due to benefit from a proposed investment of more than £600m and improvements to local infrastructure.
Situated in a prime town centre location close to Grays rail station and on a 4.68-acre site, the shopping centre comprises 63 retail units, a 700 multi-storey car park and Crown House, a 32,168 sq ft office building with potential for redevelopment.
The mixed-use accommodation is arranged over the ground and first floors. On the ground floor, the retail units are arranged around a central atrium and four internal malls with frontages to the High Street and Clarence Road. The first floor provides ancillary accommodation for the retail units and storage areas. Crown House is situated at the southern end of the scheme.
The centre, which is fully let, boasts an impressive occupancy rate in excess of 98% since 2012. In addition, 65% of leases were completed in the previous five years.
Popular in the local area, the centre recorded an annual footfall of 4.6m, a 5% increase on the 12-month period from June 2016. Notable outlets at the centre include Wilko, Iceland, Costa and Boots.
Jeremy Hodgson, Partner at Allsop commented: “The sale reflects an excellent opportunity to regenerate a 4.68-acre South East shopping centre through the redevelopment of a 32,000 sq ft office and additional areas whilst maintaining and improving a fully let retail scheme.”
