Tralee retail park has all the big names in situ for €55.2m

With discussions under way with a preferred bidder for the three retail parks in its €78 million Parks Collection portfolio, US investor Marathon Asset Management has instructed agent Cushman & Wakefield to bring another of Ireland’s foremost regional retail assets to the market.

A range of investors are expected to express their interest in Manor West Shopping Park. Located in Tralee, Co Kerry, the scheme comes for sale fully occupied by a strong selection of international and Irish retailers at a guide price of €55,175,000. The sale of the property at that level offers the new owner the opportunity to secure a net initial yield of 8.81 per cent based upon the current rent roll, which is in excess of €5 million.

The amount being guided also represents a 6 per cent discount on the €59 million the current owners paid to secure the scheme in 2015. While that markdown is significant in and of itself, prospective purchasers will note that the park’s overall rental income has grown by over 25 per cent under Marathon’s stewardship. In 2015, the annual rent roll stood at about €4 million.

Lease guarantee

Manor West Shopping Park is anchored by Harvey Norman and Woodies DIY, with a lease guarantee from the company's owner Grafton Group. Other notable tenants include Tesco, TK Maxx, Next, Homestore & More, Smyths, Currys PC World, Petmania and Halfords. The park is 100 per cent occupied, with Danish home group JYSK and pet shop Maxi Zoo two of the more recent tenants.

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The total current rent receivable is €5,342,460 per annum and the weighted average unexpired lease term (Wault) is 6.3 years to break options and 7.2 years to expiry. Tesco, The Range, Woodies, Harvey Norman, TK Maxx and Smyths Toys account for a combined 57 per cent of the scheme’s overall rental income.

At 32,549sq m (349,403sq ft), the park sits on a site area of about 11.74 hectares (29 acres), with in excess of 1,000 surface car parking spaces. The park itself is split across two different sections: the retail park and shopping centre.

The retail park offers further development options subject to planning permission, as well as potential opportunities to extend tenant leases and carry out rent reviews.

Unique opportunity

Agent Karl Stewart, of Cushman & Wakefield, says that the sale represents “a unique opportunity” to acquire an established and dominant retail park and shopping centre which caters for an extensive catchment in the southwest of Ireland.

“The park performs incredibly well and has maintained strong occupancy levels since its original construction, with an unrivalled mix of national and international brands,” he said.

Having built up a sizeable portfolio of Irish property in the years following the financial crash, Marathon Asset Management has been divesting of late. In June, it put the Parks Collection – a portfolio comprising Belgard Retail Park in Tallaght, the M1 Retail Park near Drogheda, Co Louth and Poppyfield Retail Park in Clonmel, Co Tipperary – on the market at a guide price of €78 million. Having secured offers from a number of parties, the agents handling the sale are understood to be in talks with a preferred bidder in relation to the disposal of the portfolio at its guide price.