80,000 SQFT RETAIL & COMMERCIAL SPACE
Oxford Street - Swansea - Wales
Location
The building is over 80,000 sqft of commercial space, situated perfectly on a prime pitch of Swansea’s main retail high street. The property in encircled by thriving brands including; Marks & Spencer, River Island, Top Shop, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Nationwide, Zara and Primark as immediate neighbours. These anchors enjoy a footfall of 15 million people per year. Swansea is the 2nd largest town in Wales contributing to 15% of the Welsh economy. It has a population of 320,000, including a 34,000 student population.
The Property
The property is over 80,000 sqft spread across 5 floors. The lower ground, ground and first floor are allocated as commercial retail space. Tenants include; H&M, Nationwide & One Beyond.
We have 30,000 sqft across the second and third floors which are and have been empty for a considerable time.
The Strategy
Vacant third unit
Within 3 months of purchase we negotiated to bring in a new tenant to fill the vacant ground floor and lower floor unit, formerly let to Sports Direct and vacant for 18 months. The new tenant fitted out the store in October of 2023, in time for a grand opening for the Christmas period.
Vacant uppers
We are in negotiations with Hoteliers with a few proposals. One is to sell the space with planning for the Hotelier to build out and operate, the second is to forward sell the hotel and carry out all works ourselves to provide a turnkey solution. When deciding on exits, we will weigh the upside to potential risks, taking into account our investors and their risk appetites.
We are also in discussions with Housing Associations who would take the space on a fixed price. Once all offers have been received, they will be reviewed and the directors will make a decision on the direction of the project, taking into consideration, timeframe, risks, costs, certainty of exits, upsides, and the socio-economic state of the UK marketplace.
Current Status
We are currently looking at different development options for the uppers and reviewing our refinancing options to reduce our overall finance costs.