Savills has been appointed to sell the heritable interest in EK, the primary shopping centre in East Kilbride and South Lanarkshire, on behalf of administrators from Interpath Advisory, CoStar New can reveal.
The retail space spans one million square feet across distinct malls – Plaza, Olympia, Princes Mall and Princes Square – and is home to a mix of retail and leisure operators, anchored by tenants such as Primark, JD Sports and Odeon Luxe. The development also offers 1,700 parking spaces.
Over the past two years, Scoop (asset managers to Interpath) has stabilised the asset and has worked closely with South Lanarkshire Council.
The council has approved a £62.2 million, 10-year masterplan that proposes to overhaul the shopping and leisure destination creating a "vibrant, high-quality urban environment". A significant portion of the budget, £30 million, will be invested in transportation infrastructure improvements.
As part of the redevelopment, the neighbouring Centre West Shopping Centre will be converted into a housing development, creating up to 400 homes. The development is expected to drive an annual footfall of approximately 15 million, returning it to pre-pandemic levels. Progress has also been made on key leases, including agreements with a national supermarket chain and a budget hotel, Savills said.
Mark Hewett, partner at Scoop AM, said in a statement: “This represents a rare opportunity to acquire a major regional scheme and site, with the ability to collaborate with the local authority on a transformative scheme and town that holds immense potential to generate substantial value for the local community.”
Alistair McAlinden, head of Interpath Advisory in Scotland and joint administrator of shopping centre owners Sapphire, said: “We are delighted to be able to bring this significant development to market. Over the past 22 months, substantial work has been undertaken by multiple stakeholders including South Lanarkshire Council to ensure that this development, as part of the 10-year masterplan, will generate transformative value for the town of East Kilbride and the local community.”
Mark Garmon-Jones, director of retail investment at Savills, added: “The redevelopment, guided by the masterplan endorsed earlier this year, is set to realign the town centre and its community, offering significant potential for short-term running yield improvement and long-term transformation of the asset as it is strategically repositioned."