May 4, 2010
Aviva Investors, advised by Edgerley Simpson Howe, has reconfigured a part-vacant store on its Centaurus Retail Park at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol enabling it to attract the electronics retailer Best Buy to the scheme and regear its lease with existing tenant Halfords.
The 48,668 sq ft store was previously occupied by Carpetright, MFI and Halfords but as part of Aviva’s asset management strategy Carpetright was relocated to another unit on the park after MFI went into administration.
The store was reformatted to create two units making way for Best Buy to take 39,934 sq ft on a 10-year deal at £1.2 million pa. Meanwhile Aviva also negotiated a surrender of Halfords’ former lease before it agreed new 15-year deal at a rent of £270,754 a year on the remaining 8,734 sq ft.
Jonathan East, Real Estate Asset Manager at Aviva Investors says: “We are delighted to have secured Best Buy, an exciting new entrant to the UK market, to our scheme. They are very much in the news at the moment and will attract strong consumer interest that will benefit our other retailers Halfords, Tesco Homeplus, TK Maxx, Hobbycraft and Carpetright.”
Briant Champion Long advised Best Buy. Halfords was unrepresented.