Savills IM acquires food retail assets in the Netherlands and Ireland
10 February 2022
Savills IM, the international real estate investment manager, has invested in "Enschede Zuid", a local convenience centre in Enschede, Netherlands, on behalf of a pan-European food retail fund. The site was purchased for around €30 million from property developer and owner, DC Vastgoed. Savills IM was advised by McDevitt, CMS Amsterdam and SGS Amsterdam. The acquisition includes two supermarkets and 16 daily retail shops with a total floor space of around 9,750 sqm.
The convenience centre was extensively renovated and modernised in 2018 and serves the residents of south Enschede. The area also receives many German visitors due to its proximity to the German border - especially on Sundays, when the shops are closed in Germany. The two supermarkets are let long-term to the Dutch supermarket chains Jumbo and Albert Heijn. With more than 60 shops and 700 parking spaces in total, "Enschede Zuid" is the largest local shopping destination in Enschede.
In December 2021, Savills IM completed a forward purchase agreement for a property under construction in Dublin for €25.8 million from developer Quintain Ireland. The property, with a total of around 5,600 sqm of lettable space, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022 and is pre-let long-term to grocery market leaders Tesco and Aldi. It forms part of The Crossings, an urban village at the centre of the Adamstown district around 15 km west of Dublin city centre, where around 10,000 new homes are to be built by 2028. It will serve a wider catchment of around 100,000. The new building will be constructed as a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB), thus making a positive contribution to the fund's sustainability objectives. Savills IM was advised by Savills and A&L Goodbody.
Kathrin Michalzik, Portfolio Manager at Savills Investment Management, says:
The convenience centre in Enschede and the new development in Dublin are a perfect fit for the strategy of our fund. Long-term and inflation-linked leases, tenants with strong credit ratings, as well as the food retail sector's extensive immunity to recessions ensure stable returns for our investors. In terms of further diversification, the investment focus is now on additional supermarket portfolios and neighbourhood centres across all European investment markets, particularly in Spain, Italy, the UK, Ireland, Benelux and the Nordics.
Ian Jones, Director of Investment at Savills Investment Management, adds:
With our strong European investment platform, we have secured two further attractive properties for our fund. We are also working on further transactions in the Netherlands, Nordics, Spain and Germany to invest the committed equity promptly. The systemically important food retail sector, for which physical shops remain key, continues to provide an attractive investment alternative in a challenging market environment.
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"The systemically important food retail sector, for which physical shops remain key, continues to provide an attractive investment alternative in a challenging market environment."