In my column, I wrote that shopping centres that were also social hubs in new towns as well as existing communities have been hit by factors including the shift to online buying that was accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic and other pressures, notably Brexit.
At one stage, these assets seemed to be falling into administration one by one: first the East Kilbride Shopping Centre, then the Antonine Shopping Centre in Cumbernauld, the latter being bought from administration in 2023 by a joint venture company between Belgate Estates and Tracey Investments called Beltrace (Antonine).
The US buyer is now being lined up for the East Kilbride centre. It was first reported in the Green Street News, which revealed: “Magnetar, with operating partner Northdale Asset Management, is in talks with administrators to buy the million-square-feet shopping centre for around £27 million.”
READ MORE:
The specialist publication also said the East Kilbride Shopping Centre was at one time “valued at £386m”.
The centre was offered for sale last year from administration amid plans to redevelop the South Lanarkshire town centre with 400 new homes part of the plan.
Savills said earlier that Scoop, manager for administrator Interpath Advisory, had “stabilised the asset”.
The fortunes of the two Lanarkshire shopping centres contrast with locations such as Silverburn, which just hailed its best year to date when the retail and leisure destination welcomed more than 15 million visitors.
In total, the Glasgow centre welcomed 15.2 million visitors in 2024, with a 2.4% increase in foot traffic in December.
The growth comes as Silverburn confirmed the securing of several new retail and leisure brands, set to occupy over 100,000 square feet of space in 2025.
SGS Group, the owner of Braehead shopping centre, said a refinancing deal that also included its Lakeside, Atria, and Victoria centres south of the Border, worth nearly £450m, was a vote of confidence in the performance of its sites.
It pointed to a diverse range of retail, food and beverage, and, of course, leisure tenants, and it reported an occupancy rate of 93%.
Meanwhile, the transformation of the Overgate Shopping Centre in Dundee continues with a May opening expected.
The Glasgow-based airline is opening a base at Southampton Airport, as well as expanding routes from Scottish airports.
The Southampton base allows the airline to “efficiently serve” southern mainland and island communities and will increase the number of seats available through the airline by over 140,000 per year.
It is planned that the base will be operated by two ATR-72 600 aircraft, with the first aircraft arriving in October.
Loganair has announced plans to launch two new routes, as well as increasing capacity for one of its existing flights.
From October, new routes from Southampton to Manchester and Manchester to Exeter will be added to the airline’s timetable, while the capacity of aircraft serving the popular Southampton to Edinburgh route has been increased from 49 to 72 passengers.
New routes via Manchester to Inverness and Aberdeen will also become available.
I also wrote that a “major milestone” in the plan for subsea tunnels between the Shetland Islands has been reached.
A new probe is to help decide the sites and angle of the tunnels, argued to be a more reliable alternative to ferries.
It means the commissioning of sonar investigations for tunnels between the Shetland mainland and Yell and between Yell and Unst along with a report which will make recommendations for the seismic survey locations that will contribute to the determination of the alignments of the tunnels.
The Unst and Yell Tunnel Action Groups, which have spearheaded efforts to advance the tunnel project, have “successfully raised the necessary funds to initiate the commission of this vital investigative work”.
Norwegian consultancy Norconsult is to carry out the project.
This article appeared in Business HQ Monthly
