Praxis has completed the acquisition of St Enoch Shopping Centre in Glasgow city centre from a consortium of banks for a price reportedly in excess of £50m.
The 12-acre site, which occupies a prime location at the intersection of Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, offers more than 800,000 sq ft of retail and leisure accommodation and 900 car parking spaces.
The asset last traded in 2013 and under the previous ownership, the centre benefited from capital investment that saw a new leisure quarter anchored by Vue Cinema added to the scheme.
James Hewitt, COO of Praxis, said: “The purchase of the St Enoch Centre is our first significant balance sheet investment into the retail sector in eight years. We are acquiring the asset against a backdrop of an improving tenant mix, footfall growth and increasing average basket spend throughout the scheme. Praxis has waited patiently to re-enter a sector where we have a market leading track record and we are now seeking to invest at scale into a number of discrete opportunities.”
Ian Shorrock, head of retail at Praxis, added: “The scheme is a landmark asset with significant unrealised potential and we intend to make a substantial capital investment to further enhance the offer. We believe St Enoch’s performance will benefit from our integrated approach to managing operationally complex assets and we look forward to working closely with the circa 100 tenants in the scheme.”
Praxis was advised by GCW.
