Land Securities agrees £70m commercial property sale

Real estate investment firm Land Securities has sold the Fremlin Walk site in Maidstone for £70 million.

The company has exchanged contracts with Europa Fund III's joint venture with Scoop AM over the shopping centre, which provides an annual rental income of £6 million, and will achieve a yield of 8.5 per cent on the sale.

Boasting 350,000 square feet of retail space, the site was originally opened four years ago and is anchored by House of Fraser.

Richard Akers, managing director of Land Securities' retail arm, said its sales over the past few months have demonstrated "growing investor interest in well let assets".

He added: "The proceeds will enhance the group's strong position in regard to protecting itself through the downturn while maintaining the flexibility for future opportunistic acquisitions and the delivery of its development pipeline."

Land Securities owns and manages over 2.7 million square metres of commercial property space in the UK.