CBRE GIP acquires dominant town centre retail park for £88.8m

CBRE Global Investment Partners (GIP) has acquired the Willow Brook Centre, Bristol for £88.8 million. The acquisition is made on behalf of the CBRE GIP European Co-Investment Fund (ECF) working with Arax Properties (Arax), and is ECF’s fifth purchase.  ECF and Arax are already collaborating on a portfolio of logistics assets in France acquired by ECF in 2015.

The 231,000 sq ft Willow Brook Centre is a town centre retail park in Bradley Stoke, a substantial residential suburb north of Bristol with a local catchment of approximately 169,000 people.

The centre was opened in 2009 and is anchored by Tesco. There are a further 40 tenants, including Argos, Iceland and Boots, as well as a strong food and leisure offer.

Charles Baigler, Fund Manager ECF, CBRE Global Investment Partners, commented: ”We have acquired an asset that is anchored by a high performing tenant and offers a long term, stable income stream supported by strong catchment fundamentals. The Willow Brook Centre also provides a number of asset management opportunities that will allow us to increase and diversify income.”