South Shields’ Waterloo Park shopping site featuring B&M, Next and River Island stores sold in £4million-plus deal

Avison Young Retail has sold the Waterloo Square Retail Park in South Shields on behalf of owner Royal London Asset Management for more than £4million.

The retail park, which fronts onto Coronation Street between ASDA and the King Street shopping area, is close to the town’s new bus and Metro interchange.

The 40,925sq ft park is made up of a single terrace of three shop units (ranging from 6,925sq. to 24,500sq ft) which is fully let to B&M, Next and River Island.

All three firms have recently signed new leases on their properties.

The 2.32 acre site is held on a 200-year long lease from South Tyneside Council at an annual peppercorn rent and was bought by M7 Real Estate Ltd. for £4.1million.

Avison Young Retail UK Principal and MD Miles Marten said the move would be a major boost for South Shields town centre after a tough couple of years: “Following the demise of Debenhams, it has been good to secure B&M with a large store to serve South Shields,” he said.

“Avison Young are pleased to have sold the long leasehold interest to a new institutional investor.”

Simon Beanland, of the company’s Newcastle office, said the sale had attracted plenty of attention and the park had sold for significantly more than anticipated.

“Interest from a large pool of buyers resulted in two rounds of competitive bidding, in a sector which has made a strong comeback, resulting in pricing far exceeding our original quoting level,” he said.

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