EYCO provided letting advice to the landlord Aberdeen Standard Investments and after an extensive marketing campaign secured Mint Velvet on a new 10 year lease. Mint Velvet relocated to double their sales floor area and are now able to showcase their full range.
EYCO are joint letting agents on Multrees Walk which is Edinburgh's luxury retail destination, anchored by Louis Vuitton and Harvey Nichols. In 2020 The Walk will become one of the main thoroughfares to the new St James Quarter. In 2019 we secured Max Mara as a tenant in their only UK store outside of Bond Street, London.
Acting on behalf of Sovereign Centros in partnership with Blackstone, we are involved with the leasing of St Enoch Centre, Glasgow. The scheme has over 20 million visitors annually and is one of the busiest shopping centres in the UK. We have been immersed in the project creating 2 new flagship stores for Topshop and JD Sports, letting the recently refurbished Food Court and letting the ongoing redevelopment of the former BHS unit involving a 9 screen Vue cinema, 8 casual dining restaurants and a lower mall MSU.
We are involved in the leasing of both retail and leisure within The Centre, Livingston on behalf of our client, Hines. The Centre is one of Scotland's top retailing destinations and is now ranked in the top 20 UK Shopping Centres, with footfall increasing year on year to over 15.8m. We recently agreed an upsize of River Island, Next and H&M.
For over 20 years we have played a key role in the elevation of Fort Kinnaird into the UK's second largest shopping park and one of the UK's most successful. British Land, as asset managers, have continued to invest following the opening in 2015 of the 7 screen Odeon cinema and 7 restaurant units. The latest developments include bespoke units for Curry's, Starbucks and Wagamama, along with major investment on the retail frontages throughout the scheme.
EYCO has been appointed letting agent at Glasgow Fort, one of the UK's strongest retail and leisure destinations. We also undertake all rent review and lease renewal activity on behalf of British Land.
Fife Central has continually improved since the start of our involvement on behalf of Hammerson in 2007. This was initially through the development and letting of Phase 2 and subsequently through asset management work including lettings to Next for a major store and M&S Simply Food on Phase 1. Our focus is now turning to the redevelopment of the former Homebase store to create much needed additional floorspace on the park. The park is now owned by Capreon who have retained us as joint agents.
EYCO has been development consultant, letting agent and rent review advisor on this scheme for over 20 years for all 4 owners - Chartwell Land, The Junction, Hammerson and now Quadrant Estates & Ashby Capital. Recent asset management initiatives have included lettings to NCF Living and Natuzzi.
Owned by Hammerson, Central Retail Park is the dominant shopping and leisure park in its catchment. EYCO has advised the landlord for over 10 years in respect of this asset, both in terms of an agency role and professional matters. The tenant mix has continued to improve, with recent deals to Tapi and M&S Foodhall.
Schuh has been a client of EYCO for over 20 years and during that time we have helped the company expand, providing strategic advice to deliver their property strategy; undertaking acquisitions, rent reviews and disposals. Most recently we have been assisting Schuh in their expansion into retail parks, having successfully acquired stores in York, Birmingham and Teesside.
Retained acquisition agents and rent review advisors for Starbucks across Scotland. Recent acquisitions include new drive-thru units in East Kilbride, Glasgow and Aberdeen. In addition we have recently acquired a portfolio of drive-thru sites across the UK from Morrisons on behalf of Starbucks.
Retained agents in Scotland for acquisitions for their Ask and Zizzi brands. Recent acquisitions include Shandwick Place, Edinburgh for Ask and Silverburn, Glasgow for Zizzi, with more openings in the pipeline.
Retained acquisition agents in Scotland to acquire both High Street and drive-thru opportunities. Recent openings include Edinburgh Princes Street with a healthy pipeline secured for multiple locations.
Sole letting agents in the award-winning mixed use development for the latest leisure/retail phase, which includes lettings to Nanyang,
The Apothecary, Soderberg and Caffe Nero. A pod-hotel to follow mid 2019 and there will be two further high profile units to be created fronting Middle Meadow Walk in 2021.
Retained advisors for Pizza Express in Scotland since 2005, securing a number of significant acquisitions including Union Square, Aberdeen; Fort Kinnaird, Edinburgh; Silverburn, Glasgow and Byres Road, Glasgow. Most recent opening in Gretna Gateway Village.
We were retained by Napier University to let/sell 105,000 sq ft over 3 buildings at South Gyle Business Park, Edinburgh and we secured a letting of 23,500 sq ft to Instant Offices, then subsequently sold all 3 buildings to CEG. Two of the buildings were sold with vacant possession and CEG have retained us as joint letting agents on the remaining 75,000 sq ft which is currently being refurbished to provide Grade A office accommodation.
Our reputation for advising growing tech companies continues, having recently advised Clearwater Analytics, ZoneFox and Cognitive Geology on the acquisition of 15,500 sq ft at the newly refurbished 40 Torphichen Street.
We have provided property advice to Burness Paull for many years, most recently acquiring a lease for an additional 16,800 sq ft and
re-gearing existing leases on a further 26,700 sq ft at 50 Lothian Road, in the heart of Edinburgh's Exchange district.
We advised Kyowa Kirin in their lease acquisition of 22,000 sq ft of Grade A offices in Marlow which followed our advice on their expansion and lease re-gear in Galashiels, totalling 35,000 sq ft.
In April 2015, acting on behalf of Rockspring UK Value 2, EYCO negotiated the purchase of Tanfield, an 80% occupied, multi-let, 200,000 sq ft office, for £56m. Over the next 3 years, the common parts were refurbished, the remaining space let up and rentals increased. In November 2018, we advised Rockspring on the investment sale, off market, to Greenridge Migdal for £65.5m, producing a significant return after all costs.
Having held the asset long term our clients, La Salle Investment Management, were keen to secure an exit after successfully regearing the tenant's lease to create a 17 year term certain, with annual RPI linked uplifts. EYCO were retained to target potential buyers in what was the most in demand investment sector in 2021. We carried out pre-marketing due diligence, working alongside our client's solicitors and then produced a sale marketing brochure in pdf format to allow us to present to the most competitive bidders at that time, prior to circulating more widely to the market. Following a full marketing process we secured 4 very strong bids after setting a closing date and then worked closely with all parties to drive the buyers due diligence process to a successful conclusion at the beginning of December 2021. A sale price of £7,400,000, 5.7% net initial yield was achieved, well in excess of our client's expectations.
Acting on behalf of Abrdn we marketed these 2 prime, bulky goods consented, retail warehouses for offers over £11.6m. The units were let to B&Q and Wickes with expiries in 6 and 3 years respectively. After a competitive bidding process we secured a sale to Columbia Threadneedle Investments for £12.55m, providing an excellent uplift and return for Abrdn.
On behalf of CBRE Investment Management we acquired a block of prime retail units in 2014 and were subsequently retained to advise on rent reviews and lease renewals. In Q4 2021, as the fund reached maturity, we were instructed to sell the investment. Based on our local market knowledge, we were able to target 8 parties who we identified as being the most likely buyers. Five offers were received at a closing date and after a second round of competitive bidding, a sale was swiftly completed to Thistle Property Group in March 2022 for substantially in excess of the asking price.
Almost 4 million sq ft have been acquired for Tesco, including 46 Superstores and Extras, 30 Express stores and a distribution centre. An asset management and surplus property disposal programme is currently progressing.
Providing development and disposal advice to Newland Assets in relation to their Borders Gateway site at Tweedbank. One final plot remains after conditional deals have been agreed with BP/M&S, Premier Inn and Costa drive-thru.
EYCO, jointly with JLL, are marketing plots for office, retail, leisure and industrial uses on behalf of Buccleuch Developments for new build lease opportunities, turnkey sales or serviced site disposals.
EYCO acted on behalf of Gap in respect of the rent review of their premises in Buchanan Street, Glasgow effective from December 2017 at a prevailing rent of £700,000 pa. The rent review was agreed at £710,000 pa on the condition that the tenantÔs break option, effective from December 2018, was waived. In turn the lease was extended by 5 years to 2027 with an additional break option negotiated for 2022 and a reduction in the penalty provisions in the event of a tenant break. This demonstrates that rent reviews can also be an opportunity to improve the tenant's terms of occupation.
Acting for the landlord, Orion, we pursued and coordinated appeals against the 2017 rateable values throughout East Kilbride Shopping Centre. The appeal outcomes resulted in cumulative rateable value reductions of £2.83m, with the value of the unit shops reduced by 30% to 40% in large areas of the centre.
Acting for the landlord, Intu Properties, we entered detailed discussions with the Assessor in advance of the 2017 Rates Revaluation. As a consequence, the cumulative rateable values adopted at Braehead Shopping Centre after the 2017 rates revaluation were £4.68m (17%) lower than the previous rates assessments established at the 2010 rates revaluation.
Acting for the landlord, Land Securities, we engaged in detailed discussions with the Assessor in advance of the 2017 Rates Revaluation and agreed, in advance, the rateable values to be applied across the board. This ensured that the cumulative rateable values were £3.56m (22%) lower than they had been at the previous 2010 Rates Revaluation. This included a 38% reduction in the rateable value of the multi storey car park, with an initial value of £2.376m.
Acting for the landlord, Sovereign Centros, we entered detailed discussions with the Assessor in advance of the 2017 Rates Revaluation and we also pursued and coordinated 2017 Revaluation appeals. These measures ensured that the cumulative rateable values are now £3.13m (28%) lower than they had been at the previous 2010 Rates Revaluation. St Enoch Centre now offers, in rating terms, some of the most affordable retail space in Glasgow city centre.
Acting for the landlord, Hines UK Ltd, we engaged in detailed discussions with the Assessor in advance of the 2017 Rates Revaluation and we also pursued and coordinated 2017 revaluation appeals. These actions ensured that the cumulative rateable values are now £8.02m (32%) lower than they had been at the previous 2010 Rates Revaluation, with typical unit shops now paying 40% less non-domestic rates today versus 5 years previously.
