Pictured above: Greg Judd, director of GVA Grimley

The £61 million sale of a trio of shopping centres in Shrewsbury town centre has marked the largest deal out of receivership this year in the Midlands, reports GVA Grimley, LPA Receiver for the transaction. 

The Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres dominate Shrewsbury's retail floorspace. The Shropshire county town provides a total of 1,070,000 sq ft (99,406 sq m) of retail space, with these three properties providing approximately 43 per cent of the town's entire retail space. Now owned by UK Commercial Property Trust, the trio of primely located, linked shopping centres comprise a total of 123 retail units on a site of approximately 6.15 acres (2.487 hectares). 

GVA Grimley was appointed LPA Receiver in September 2009 when previous owners Protego's UK Actively Managed Shopping Centre Fund lost control of the trio of properties. The LPA Receiver appointment was made by London-based Hatfield Phillips - the special servicer to the loan - which was originally provided by Lehman Brothers in 2006.

Greg Judd, director of GVA Grimley, head of the firm's Midlands Corporate Recovery team and LPA Receiver for Shrewsbury Shopping Centres said: "We are delighted to have completed this major transaction within six months of being appointed as the LPA Receiver. Shrewsbury is a vibrant county town and the trio of centres is very popular, however, the properties were purchased at the height of the market in 2006 and the level of debt was unable to continue to be serviced. 

"During the last decade, the number of large shopping centres that were bought for high values is significant, with many deals having taken place at what we now know to have been the height of the market. We are currently appointed as the LPA Receiver of a number of other major shopping centres across the country, such as Merseyway Shopping Centre in Stockport, Swinton Shopping Centre near Manchester, Cherry Tree Shopping Centre in Wallasey and Cannock Shopping Centre in Staffordshire. While the sale of Shrewsbury Shopping Centre currently represents the largest deal out of receivership in the Midlands during 2010, there will be more transactions to follow, as the property market deals with the effects of a painful recession."

GVA Grimley secured the LPA Receiver appointment due to the size, track record and experience of its 15-strong Midlands Corporate Recovery team. The instruction involved a multi-disciplinary team from GVA Grimley's Midlands office, located in Brindleyplace in central Birmingham. The firm's market leading Property Management team were engaged over the six month transaction period. 

Key occupiers at Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres include Marks & Spencer, TK Maxx, H&M, Currys Digital, Next, New Look, Wilkinson, TJ Hughes and Somerfield. 86 per cent of the current rental income is secured to national multiple retailers.

The Darwin and Pride Hill Shopping Centres both have frontages onto Shrewsbury's prime retail pitch of Pride Hill. To the rear, Riverside Mall links with the Pride Hill Shopping Centre at its lowest level, while the Darwin centre leads into Shrewsbury's primary 920 space multi-storey car park.