City shop units snapped up
A prime piece of commercial Perth property has been sold to a foreign investor in a deal worth nearly £6 million.
The retail unit building at 111-121 High Street - which is currently home to New Look and Next -was purchased by a private overseas investor in the biggest retail property transaction seen in the city since September 2015.
Knight Frank says the overseas move in Perth is part of a recorded trend for Scottish investment noted in 2016 and more could follow.
Douglas Binnie, senior capital markets surveyor at Knight Frank, said: “International investors continue to be the main
The New Look and Next building drivers of activity in the Scottish commercial property market. While they were previously only looking at prime assets in the central belt, and Aberdeen prior to the downturn, they are now searching beyond for opportunities – particularly where more generous income returns are available.
“We would expect to see more deals conclude beyond the capital in the next few months, as investors chase income in a stubbornly low interest rate environment.”
The prominent 50,994-sq.ft. building, formerly home to Woolworths, consists of four storeys and was substantially redeveloped in 2011.
The re-use of the 1960s building was a turnaround from just months before when Perth and Kinross Council considered demolishing the property in favour of creating a new approach to the High Street, connecting Mill Street and the High Street.