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THE ANNUAL GUIDE TO INVESTMENT & DEVELOPMENT IN KENT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Retail PerformanceOver the past year High Street rental values across the UK have softened, with values on the IPD Monthly down by 2% in the year to March 2009. Rental values in retail warehouses have also followed suit, falling by 2.7% over the last year and shopping centres by 3.2%. However, Kent has fared better than elsewhere in the UK. According to Experian, the retail vacancy rate for Kent is only 9.9%, compared with 11.5% nationally. Yet, across the county tenant demand has been weak with the short term outlook for the retail sector looking bleak. As retail voids have crept up, landlords are having to vastly increase incentives to keep tenants, let alone attract new ones. Consequently, net effective rents on new leases are down by 25% on last year. That said, Bluewater has bucked the trend announcing a 2.1% increase in sales for July 2009 compared to last year. The success is corroborated by the number of new occupiers during the year including Phase Eight, Kuoni and LK Bennett. German jeweller Thomas Sabo has taken LK Bennett’s former unit, their first venture in the south east. George Davies is due to open a new 214m2 (2,300ft2) GIVe fashion store in autumn 2009. Bluewater is one of very few regional shopping centres that has maintained its rental levels. Also at Bluewater, John Lewis opened its first food hall outside the capital in August 2009. The 1,533m2 (16,500ft2) food hall is situated beneath John Lewis’ flagship store and is operated by Waitrose. Marlowe Arcade, Canterbury has seen a flurry of activity during the beginning of 2009, with Animal, Rituals and Phase Eight all taking units. At present there is little new retail development in the pipeline. Some smaller schemes are under construction, with Berkeley Group having secured Tesco, Subway and Domino’s Pizza at its Victory Pier development in Gillingham. The retail warehouse market is also quieter than previous years, however there is still activity involving individual units. Aldi is looking at taking the former MFI unit at Warren Retail Park, Ashford. Comet is extending its store at Marshwood Close, Canterbury, while B&Q opened a new 8,546m2 (92,000ft2) store in April 2009 at White Cliffs Business Park, Dover. A new 1,858m2 (20,000ft2) Asda Living store will open in the centre of Maidstone in November 2009. In Tunbridge Wells development is progressing on six retail warehouses and three restaurants at the new Royal Spar Retail Park on Dowding Way. Marks & Spencer, Halfords and Pets at Home have taken prelets at the scheme. Investor activity has remained subdued across the county, however, yields for prime stock have started to stabilise. Land Securities sold Fremlin Walk shopping centre in Maidstone to Europa Capital in June 2009 achieving a yield of 8.75%. The multi-tenanted scheme of over 32,515m2 (350,000ft2) anchored by House of Fraser, was sold for £70m. A family trust purchased the 4,180m2 (45,000ft2) Waitrose store in Tonbridge for £15.2m showing a 6% yield. 
Lettings
Sales
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