St Enoch’s Pre Acquisition Assessment

 

About the brand

The 80,000 m² St. Enoch Centre in Glasgow  opened in 1989 and is ranked as one of the top 20 largest city centre schemes in the UK. Located at the junction of Glasgow’s busiest shopping streets – Argyle Street and Buchanan Street – St. Enoch attracts over 19 million shoppers a year.

Prior to acquiring the centre in 2013, Sovereign Land and Blackstone wanted to quickly understand trading  performance, sustainable rents, occupier risk and opportunities for growth 

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The Challenge/Task

  • Provide detailed insight on Glasgow’s in town and out of town retail markets

  • Prioritise trading gap opportunities for growth

  • Assess the sustainable rent for each occupier and identify significant risks

WHAT WE DID

  • Assessed Glasgow’s national ranking, market size, trading performance and shopper lifestyles in comparison with the UK leading cities (Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds)

  • Reviewed the strengths, weaknesses and relative trading performance of key regional competing centres, including Buchanan Galleries, Silverburn and Braehead.

  • Undertook a detailed evaluation of Sustainable Rents

Estimated individual occupier sales (through a detailed audit)

Calculated the sustainable rent for each occupier (using unique financial accounting models)

Compared sustainable rents with passing rents to provide a comprehensive understanding of risks and opportunity

 

The Result

With Pragma’s research providing a full understanding of the opportunities and risks,, Blackstone progressed the £186m acquisition of the centre.

Since acquisition, Blackstone has worked closely with Sovereign Land to develop St. Enoch’s strengths and consolidate its position as a major retail destination within Glasgow city centre