Clearbell sells retail warehouses to M7

Clearbell Property Partners has sold two retail warehouses in the North West and Dorset to M7 Real Estate for a combined price of £19.35m, at the same time as picking up another retail park in Staffordshire. The sold assets, which make up more than 150,000 sq ft of space, are located in Bolton, Ellesmere Port in Cheshire and Christchurch, near Bournemouth. They were sold fully let from Clearbell’s Amber portfolio after the property manager undertook a number of lease regears and made aesthetic improvements. Clearbell has also bought Orbital retail park in Cannock from M&G Real Estate for £14.75m, at a yield of 11.8%. The firm intends to carry out refurbishments in the coming months. Rob Mills, partner at Clearbell Capital, said: “The sale of Christchurch, Bolton and Ellesmere Port demonstrate the continued demand for retail warehouse assets that are well-let and offer sensible rents in desirable locations. “Due to the resilience of the sector, we believe that the tenants at Cannock will trade strongly from the retail warehouse in this location in the future, despite the uncertainty around rent collection for many landlords caused by the pandemic.”