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10 September 2015

£33.5m price tag as yet another retail park goes on the market

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A Newry retail park once owned by one of Northern Ireland’s richest men has gone on the market for £33.5m just five years after it was bought by its current London landlord.

Damolly Retail Park is the largest retail scheme in Newry, and is set to generate “strong interest”, according to one property consultant.

It’s understood commercial property firm CBRE is acting to market the park, but it did not wish to comment on the details of the sale.

The park was bought by London Metric in 2010 from Corbo, a firm owned by Ballymena developer Sam Morrison.

Developed in 1999, the park provides over 165,000 sq ft of purpose-built retail accommodation.

It is understood the park currently has full occupancy, and major tenants include B&Q, Lidl, McDonald’s and Halfords.

Corbo sold Damolly Retail park in Newry for £28.4m to London Metric Property Investments.

Eamonn Murphy of Murphy Surveyors said the park was one of the most lucrative retail sites in Northern Ireland, buoyed by its range of retailers.

“It’s one of Northern Ireland’s long-established areas and has been asset-managed over a long period of time.

“It has a good critical mass, and one of the reasons it thrives is Newry has always been strong and thriving in retail. The recent additions to this park make it a good buy, in my view.

“There is Lidl and then you have the Home Bargains. With those two additions, there is a softening of planning.

“And both Lidl and Costa Coffee bring people in daily and there are a mixture of uses which adds to the long-term positive future.”

Mr Murphy said Damolly was likely to attract big interest from major asset firms in Britain.

“A lot of the sales have been to Great Britain-based vehicles, so it’s likely to be someone of a similar nature.”

It’s understood the retail park boasts annual rents of around £2.4m.

Many of the leases, such as Lidl and Costa, have around 20 years left.

Damolly is the latest retail park to go on the market, after two of Northern Ireland’s biggest shopping destinations – Junction One and The Outlet – went on sale with an overall guide price of around £60m.

The shopping giants are up for grabs after being put on the market by London-based firm DTZ.

Both retail sites are being marketed with a guide price of “between £58m and £62m”.

And last week it was revealed Co Down retail asset Bloomfield Shopping Centre, formerly owned by one of Northern Ireland’s richest men, was gone on the market for £54m.

Meanwhile three other major retail properties have been sold for a combined £53m, according to law firm Tughans.

Lisnagelvin Retail Park in Strabane was sold for £16.7m to M&G Real Estate, while Pradera and Tristan Capital Partners acquired the Showgrounds Retail Park in Omagh for £26.7m.

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