Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council has been unveiled as the new owner of the Alhambra Shopping Centre in Barnsley.

Andrew Foster and Nathan Pask of Watling Real Estate were appointed LPA receivers on the Shopping Centre in November 2021.

The council has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to purchase the long leasehold of the Centre which runs for 150 years to April 2139. Funding for the purchase of the leasehold and redevelopment work has been agreed with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

The sale follows a two-year period of asset management, that was overseen by Watling Real Estate, during which a number of key lettings were completed. Occupiers within the shopping centre include Primark, Poundstretcher, Iceland and EE.

Rob Cruikshank, associate director in the Leeds office of Watling Real Estate, said: “The acquisition secures local authority investment for an asset that is positioned in a challenged area of the market.

“We worked extensively with retailers to stabilise the Centre, creating a strong tenant line up and rent roll, thus providing a solid platform for an incoming purchaser to fully consider the long-term options for the property.

“The purchase will help to align the council’s strategic objectives for place making within Barnsley town centre.”

The Alhambra Shopping Centre provides 156,149 sq ft of retail space in 40 units on two malls.

Law firm DLA Piper LLP acted for the receivers, and the council was advised by its in-house legal team.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Rob Cruikshank, Associate Director,

Watling Real Estate, One The Embankment, Leeds, LS1 14DW

Editors’ Notes

Watling Real Estate was created on 1 June 2023 by a management buyout of the real estate restructuring division of Avison Young. The business is headquartered in London with a network of offices in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol, providing national coverage with the benefit of local and regional expertise.  It has a team of 20+ professionals offering a multi-disciplinary real estate advisory business and will immediately become one of the UK’s largest real estate restructuring consultancies.

The team, originally part of the GVA business and more recently Avison Young post-merger in 2019, is one of the most highly regarded and experienced real estate advisors operating within the restructuring and recovery marketplace. Over the past decade, the team has advised or transacted on real estate with a total value of over £11 billion, having worked on some of the most significant real estate restructuring projects in the UK.

Watling Real Estate is backed by Bassi Capital, a private family office with extensive core investments in the real estate sector including publicly listed companies, private limited companies, and joint partnerships. https://bassicapital.com/

Issued by ASAP PR – 07990 978257