April 19, 2010
17 of the top 50 retail park occupiers have gone out of existence since 2002; Trevor Wood Associates’ Definitive Guide to Retail & Leisure Parks 2010, published 19th April, has identified that almost 20% of the current peak rents were set by the occupiers which went into administration or entered into a CVA.
The Definitive Guide analyses 1,540 retail parks, leisure Parks and warehousing schemes; including 70 projects in the development pipeline, The research found that whilst many occupiers have gone out of business several new retailers have emerged, such as B&M, whose offer befits a recessionary market. The outlook is improving with the current retail warehousing vacancy rate of 11.6%, although nearly double the 2007 figure, dropping from the mid-2009 record high of 11.8%.
Peak rents achieved on Retail Parks vary from £8.00 per sq. ft. to £105.00 per sq ft with most parks recording rents of between £10.00 and £20.00 per sq ft; 9% of retail parks now have peak rents above £35.00 per sq. ft. compared to just 1% in 2002. The entry level for the Top 100 Retail Park Rents has risen from £31.00 to £32.50.
Trevor Wood Associates’ research finds that for the fifth year running, British Land is the leading investment manager of Retail Parks in the UK. British Land also tops the retail warehousing investment manager table where LaSalle Investment Management has re-entered the top 10 in 6th place following a 39% increase. Fifteen investment managers covered more than 2 million square feet of retail parks, compared to twelve last year.
