Six months after going on the market, US hedge fund, Magnetar, with operating partner Northdale Asset Management, has been named as a potential buyer for East Kilbride Shopping Centre.
A buyer from the United States is reportedly in talks with administrators to buy Scotland’s largest undercover shopping centre for £27million.
Six months after going on the market, US hedge fund, Magnetar, with operating partner Northdale Asset Management, has been named as a potential buyer for East Kilbride Shopping Centre.
Green Street News reported that Magnetar is in talks with administrators Interpath Advisory to buy the million-square-foot shopping centre for around £27 million.
This comes after the council gave the green light for a “bold” £62.2m, 10-year masterplan that “will radically transform the shopping and leisure destination into a vibrant, high-quality urban environment”.
Hailing the “positive” news, South Lanarkshire Council Leader Joe Fagan said: “This is a positive development. The town centre was promoted as a development opportunity – not an asset to sit on, but a chance to put the town centre masterplan into practice.
“This year is an important year for the town centre and I hope the prospective new owners will continue to be a willing partner to the council in taking forward the masterplan.
“When the centre went into administration, East Kilbride faced a choice of two futures – radical change or radical decline. We’re backing radical change and this year we can start to make it happen.
“It requires the private sector and the public sector to work together constructively and it will take consistent leadership but with goodwill, a shared vision and a commitment to invest, following the council’s £50million commitment to the masterplan, we can soon begin the work of real change for East Kilbride.”
EK, East Kilbride, Scotland’s largest undercover shopping and leisure centre, went into administration just weeks before Christmas 2022.
Owners Sapphire, a Luxembourg-based shell company, became insolvent, plunging the future of the centre into uncertainty.
It followed a series of difficult years for the centre, which has struggled to retain existing, or attract new, businesses to the town.
Scoop – asset manager to Interpath – has since worked with South Lanarkshire Council to stabilise the centre.
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As part of the redevelopment, the neighbouring Centre West Shopping Centre will be bulldozed and converted into a housing development, creating up to 400 new homes in the heart of the town.
It is hoped the move will drive an annual footfall of approximately 15 million, returning to pre-pandemic levels. A national supermarket chain and a budget hotel have so far been granted leases.
The retail space spans approximately one million square feet across distinct malls: Plaza, Olympia, Princes Mall and Princes Square. The centre is anchored by tenants such as Primark, JD Sports and Odeon Luxe.
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The development also offers 1,700 parking spaces.
Savills said earlier that “over the past two years, Scoop (asset managers to Interpath) has stabilised the asset and has worked closely with South Lanarkshire Council”.
It added: “The council has approved a £62.2m, 10-year masterplan that will radically transform the shopping and leisure destination into a vibrant, high-quality urban environment. A significant portion of the budget, £30m, will be invested in transportation infrastructure improvements.
“As part of the redevelopment, the neighbouring Centre West Shopping Centre will be converted into a housing development, creating up to 400 new homes in the heart of the town.
“This transformation is expected to drive an annual footfall of approximately 15 million, returning to pre-pandemic levels. Progress has also been made on key leases, including agreements with a national supermarket chain and a budget hotel.”
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