THE north’s commercial property market has kicked into full post-summer swing, with almost £200 million of assets being listed for sale.
Portadown shopping centre Magowan West is the latest retail property to go on the market.
The £3.65 million listing comes five months after the holding company behind the centre was placed into administration. It follows the recent efforts to find a new owner for the Rushmere shopping centre.
Both shopping centres are linked to the Dungannon-based Moyallen Group.
If Rushmere sells for close to its £57m asking price, the huge Craigavon retail complex could well be the biggest commercial property deal done in 2022.
Gavin Clarke from Osborne King, the firm managing the Magowan West listing, expects strong interest in the smaller former Moyallen asset.
“Magowan West is the dominant retail and office scheme in Portadown town centre with a great mix of national and regional occupiers and we anticipate strong investor interest in this popular scheme,” he said.
Elsewhere in the retail sector, Alterity Investments has gone to the market with its Boucher Road asset. Boucher Square, which lists Frankie & Bennys, Costa, Nandos, Eddie Rockets, Five Guys and Slim Chickens as tenants, is up for sale for £3.85m.
It’s also understood that Ards Shopping Centre, one of Northern Ireland’s first ever covered shopping centres, is being prepared for the market.
In terms of scale, the 31.5 acre Central Park in Mallusk is one of the biggest commercial property assets to come on the market in recent times.
Spanning around 661,000 ft across 10 diffferent blocks of warehouse, business, retail and office accommodation, the former Michelin factory site has an asking price of £16.5m.
Belfast’s office market has also kicked into action in September.
Bedford House, the Belfast base for firms including EY and Arup, is set to come onto the market.
Located across the street from the Grand Central Hotel, the 85,000 sq ft office block dates back to the 1960s.
Just weeks after The Bank of London took up occupancy on its ground floor, the Soloist building in Belfast has gone on the market for £35m. Located next to the Waterfront Hall, it’s the long-time base for KPMG and Pinset Masons in the city.
A short walk along the Lagan, and PwC’s former base, the empty Waterfront Plaza will pose a much more significant challenge to find a prospective buyer.
At 57,000 sq ft and with a £10m price tag, the Klondyke building in The Gasworks, which comes with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency as a long-term tenant, might present an easier sell for commercial property agents.
