TWO Co Antrim retail parks have gone on the market for £9 million as the buying bonanza for Northern Ireland shopping centres looks set to continue.
The Braidwater Retail Park in Ballymena and the Abbey Trading Centre in Newtownabbey are the latest to go on the market.
It comes as one of the biggest new investors in Northern Ireland’s commercial property scene said it’s eyeing yet more investment opportunities here.
Manchester-based David Samuel Properties recently bought Shane Retail Park on Belfast’s Boucher Road for £23m.
It took the property group’s spend in Northern Ireland to more than £81m in the past 24 months.
DS Properties snapped up the Crescent Link Retail Park in Derry for £30m in October 2019 and later paid £9.7m for Lisnagelvin Retail Park.
The group also bought Holywood Exchange Retail Park outside Belfast in December 2020 for £18.9m.
While DS said it would not be drawn on what’s next in the north, Matthew Beddow from the firm said it's certainty on the lookout for new investment opportunities here.
Alongside Braidwater and Abbey Trading Centre, the Cityside retail park at Belfast’s Yorkgate remains on the market for around £13m and is expected to sell by the end of this year.
“We take all opportunities on their merits and we have been very fortunate to have some very good opportunities come our way in Northern Ireland, and we’d certainly be looking for more should they come along,” said Mr Beddow.
He said DS Properties is not just interested in retail, with the group’s wide ranging property portfolio including industrial, office and leisure assets.
“We have become very comfortable with Northern Ireland as a destination.
“We like the structure, we like working with the people over there, we have a great team of consultants in Belfast and Derry that we work with on a regular basis.
“So we’re just looking to capitalize on that knowledge that we’ve built up over the last couple of years and those connections we’ve made and take things forward really," said Mr Beddow.
“We’re very positive about Northern Ireland and its prospects going forward.
“We will consider all forms of property in Northern Ireland, whether retail, industrial, office, warehouse, you name it, we’ll look at all properties.
“We’re not just limited to retail and Northern Ireland is a strong place to do business."
Both the Braidwater retail park and Abbey Trading Centre are currently listed for £4.5m.
The Braidwater listing spans just over 60,000 sq ft, with Currys PC World, Pets At Home, B&M and Poundland among the current tenants.
Based on Longwood Road, the Abbey Trading Centre’s tenants include Sports Direct, B&M and Subway.
