A Northern Irish property company has swooped to buy an Aberdeen shopping precinct for £2.7million.
Haudagain Retail Park, next to one of the Granite City’s most notorious bottleneck roundabouts, was sold to the private investor by London-based Rhino Investment Management.
The site is currently home to a KFC fast food outlet and retailers Carphone Warehouse, Maplin, American Golf and HSL.
Rhino was represented in the sale by Aberdeen-based property firm FG Burnett and Belfast-based consultancy Osborne King.
FG Burnett director Dave Macleod said: “The majority of the tenants have traded from the development since it opened in 1999, testimony to the quality of the location at one of Aberdeen’s busiest road junctions.”
Osborne King director Dave McClure added: “The quality of tenants and unexpired lease terms is an ideal combination for private investors and property companies.”
Plans lodged recently with Aberdeen City Council would see an expansion of the KFC at Haudagain, which generates rental income of about £250,000 a year.
Past tenants at the five-unit, one-acre park include a Blockbuster video/DVD store and an Ashley Jane furniture and kitchen showroom.
The development dates back to 1999, when American Golf Discount became the first tenant and celebrity psychic Uri Geller flew into Aberdeen soon after to open the Maplin store.
Eighteen years on, the nearby Haudagain roundabout – once dubbed the worst in Britain – is at the heart of £30million plans to relieve pressure on one of Aberdeen’s worst bottlenecks.
Studies have estimated hold-ups at the roundabout cost the north-east economy up to £30million a year.
The retail park, in Great Northern Road, was marketed at offers over £3million.
FG Burnett and Osborne King described it as “offering an un-rivalled profile to the thousands of vehicles that pass on a daily basis”.
Their sales brochure added: “Its location on the Haudagain roundabout ensures that the property is accessible from every direction of travel.”
FG Burnett was also at the heart of the biggest property investment in Aberdeen this year, the £43.2million acquisition of an office building – home to Lloyd’s Register – at Prime Four business park in Kingswells.
JLL Ryden and FG Burnett acted for Aberdeen-based Drum Property Group in the sale of the 102,000sq ft office complex to international property investor LCN Capital Partners.
