LCP invests £36m in shopping parade portfolio
London & Cambridge Properties has strengthened its hold in the UK local convenience retail sector by acquiring a £36.65 million nationwide portfolio of neighbourhood shopping parades.
The addition of the Navigation portfolio to the local convenience parades division of Kingswinford-based LCP - one of the UK's leading property investment and management companies - brings its investment in small, neighbourhood centres to more than £110m this year alone.
LCP has targeted investing a further £100 million a year in local parades over the next five years.
The new portfolio, acquired by Allsop from commercial property consultants Mason and Partners, is made up of 19 sites that stretch from as far north as Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, down to Worthing, West Sussex, in the south.
Five are located in prime town centre positions.
In total the portfolio includes mainly freehold sites with 171 retail units, totalling approximately 259,000 sq ft with an average unexpired lease term of 8.5 years.
Tenants include a mixture of well-known national multiples including Tesco Express and Sainsbury's local as well as a range of independent retailers and service providers.
James Buchanan, investment director of LCP, said the acquisition was a significant boost to its retail portfolio.
"The local and convenience shopping sector has become an increasing focus for us. This portfolio offers LCP numerous asset management opportunities, including redevelopment. Most of the centres are fully let and are thriving, however, as a pro-active property investment company we will now be looking at how we can further improve the sites.
"We are actively seeking more sites and welcome all introductions," he said.
London & Cambridge Properties' local convenience parades division now has a total portfolio of more than 240 retail sites, 1,900 retail units and in excess of 4.6 million sq.ft across the UK.
The company is continually seeking high yielding retail investment property acquisitions throughout the UK.
LCP, which was established in 1987, also has a London office in Millbank Tower and offices in Germany and Poland. The UK portfolio is managed by an in-house team of experienced asset managers who manage more than 350 sites, 3,000 tenants and more than 15m sq ft of property.
The 2014-2015 saw turnover of £82.5 million with profits of £38.2m before tax. Value by sector is 43.3% retail, 54.5% industrial and 2.2% offices.
