Woolshops Shopping Centre in Halifax put up for sale for £15.5m

International real estate advisor Savills, on behalf of LaSalle Investment Management, has brought to market Woolshops Shopping Centre in Halifax at a guide price of £15.55 million and reflecting a net initial yield of 11.0%.

Comprising 7.4 acres and 236,923 sq ft of retail space, Woolshops is the dominant retail offer for the town, anchored by a 48,338 sq ft Marks & Spencer store.

The open-air, streetscape scheme has created a modern shopping environment with open cobbled streets in character with the historic surroundings.

Additional retailers include Boots, JD Sports, WH Smith, Poundland and Costa Coffee.

The scheme also includes a twin-deck car park offering 310 spaces, which is the town’s principal parking provision, and generates 22% of the asset’s net income.

James Stratton, investment director at Savills, comments: “Held freehold and covering 7.4 acres, Woolshops dominates Halifax’s prime retail offer. The modern scheme benefits from a vibrant mix of convenience, essential and fashion retailers, anchored by the town centre’s most popular car park.

"The low rise construction, open air street scape environment and asset management opportunities are expected to draw good interest from a wide range of investors.”

The Woolshops derives its name from its unique history within the town, where in medieval times the street was known for buying and selling wool from the nearby farmers, which was then sold to cottage weavers, to be later sold as pieces of cloth in the historic Piece Hall.

The Shopping Centre was part of the redevelopment of the town in the 1970’s and 80’s and was originally planned as a much larger site. The Woolshops was developed in 2 phases, the first part being in 1983 which accommodated the listed buildings along the Woolpack and added a car park to the town centre offering.

Phase 2 was completed in 2000, adding more retail units and increasing the centre by nearly 30% to create a vibrant and elegantly built open air centre ,welcoming up to 5 million customers a year.