The Marshes
The Marshes Shopping Centre could soon count Queen Elizabeth II and David Cameron amongst its owners after the Crown Estate submitted a bid for the shopping centre portfolio currently owned by Northern Irish businessmen John B McGuckian and Ken Cheevers.
The Dundalk centre is part of a portfolio of regional retail parks and malls which went on the market earlier this year with a price tag of around £750m (€909.4m).
Other centres that could be sold as part of the sale include the Foyleside in Derry, Forestside in south Belfast and the Abbey Centre in Newtownabbey.
The portfolio, which was assembled using substantial loans from Ulster Bank, also includes Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester, Palace Exchange in Enfield, greater London, the Avenue Shopping Centre in Glasgow and Priory Meadow in Hastings, East Sussex.
The Belfast Telegraph is reporting today that McGuckian and Cheevers are “weight up a number of bids for the eight-strong portfolio,” including one from the Crown Estate.
Crown Estate is an independent company which manages the property assets of the Crown. The Estate is one of the largest property owners in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio worth £8.1 billion.
Although nominally belonging to the monarch and inherent with the accession of the throne, like the Crown Jewels, the Crown Estate is not the private property of the reigning monarch and cannot be sold by him or her, nor do any revenues, or debts, from the estate accrue to the monarch, as they no longer govern in person. That role has been replaced by the de facto authority of Parliament. From April 2012 each monarch will receive from the Treasury a stipulated percentage of the Crown Estate’s annual net revenue (currently set at 15%). Surplus revenue from the Estate is paid each year to Her Majesty’s Treasury.
Crown Estate confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph it was intent on acquiring more retail property.
James Cooksey, head of The Crown Estate’s regional portfolio, said: “As one of the top five owners of regional retail property in the UK, The Crown Estate continues to seek opportunities that align with our investment strategy and we are considering a bid for Fosse Shopping Park in that context.”
Estate agents Savills refused to comment on the sale.
Talk of the Town 