Evolve Estates acquires two Scarborough retail centres

It has added to its burgeoning retail portfolio The Balmoral Centre, a 5400 sq m covered retail centre anchored by Wilko, and Bar House, on Aberdeen Walk, which has 1600 sq m of retail and leisure space over three floors. It acquired the parades for an undisclosed sum, taking this year’s retail acquisitions to more than 56 million Euro.

Sebastian MacDonald-Hall, of Evolve Estates, said: “Scarborough is a beloved seaside resort and we’re pleased to have secured these well-known, popular parades, bringing them into our in-house portfolio. We are committed to focusing our efforts on regional retail centres and neighbourhood parades where we can see there is incredible potential. The Balmoral Centre and Bar House provide us with significant opportunities to add significant value and we are already looking to identify how we can revitalise these centres further. We hope to make announcements on how we can achieve this over the next few months.”

The Balmoral Centre, which Evolve bought as freehold, comprises seven retail units on ground floor, with five fronting Westborough. There are also two further units, plus a vacant night club located on the first floor and a gym located on the second floor. An NCP car park has space for 480 vehicles.

Bar House comprises seven shops fronting Westborough and Aberdeen Walk, with vacant first and second floors, which used to be a nightclub.