St Modwen sells Edmonton Green for £72m

St Modwen has sold the Edmonton Green shopping centre in Enfield, North London, to a Crosstree Real Estates affiliate for £72m. Crosstree affiliate Edmonton Green will seek to regenerate the 495,000 sq ft centre, which is currently 96% let to 160 tenants, generating a net rental income of £4m. The 25-acre site comprises retail, office and community use, which includes the shopping centre, a leisure centre, Travelodge hotel, market, 754 homes and car parking space. The deal was agreed in August, as revealed by EG. Contracts have now been exchanged and the sale is expected to complete shortly. St Modwen has also completed the sales of two smaller retail assets in Liverpool and Cannock, Staffordshire, for a total of £9.9m, 6% above the combined book value of the assets in November 2017. Rupert Wood, property director at St Modwen, said: “These disposals are in line with our strategic objective to refocus our portfolio towards assets with strong structural growth characteristics. “While these disposals will reduce our rental income in the near term, recycling the proceeds into our much higher-yielding industrial/logistics pipeline is expected to deliver a marked increase in income over time.” Crosstree is backed by the Swiss pharmaceuticals billionaire Bertarelli family and led by former Blackstone head of UK and ex-head of European acquisitions, Sean Arnold. Matt Mason, director at Crosstree, said: “We are excited to play our part in the improvement of this community-focused retail centre and to help create a thriving town centre and neighbourhood. “We are committed to the long-term future of Edmonton Green and look forward to working with the Council and local community to support the growth and prosperity of this strategically important site within Enfield.” Since the start of 2018, St Modwen has sold £177m of retail assets, more than half of its retail portfolio, averaging 1% under book value. This is on top of the disposal of £49m of small assets, helping it achieve its target to sell £150-175m of retail and small assets in the year. Crosstree is the process of developing a designer outlet at The O2 with joint venture partner AEG; 1 Berkeley Street, W1, a 1.1-acre freehold site with planning consent to develop a 400,000 sq ft mixed-use scheme; and The Standard, London, a 270-bedroom hotel  that is under development in King’s Cross. Colliers International acted for Crosstree and GCW advised St Modwens. To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette