Altera sells Utrecht retail park to abrdn

Altera Vastgoed (hereinafter: Altera) sold its property on Kaap de Goede Hooplaan in Utrecht to an abrdn fund at the end of December 2021.

The retail park (11 units) on Kaap de Goede Hooplaan is fully let to tenants including Goossens, Hartog Wonen, Swiss Sense and X
²
O. It is part of the Utrecht home furnishing centre (Kanaleneiland), which has extensive free parking right outside. The furniture centre is located in the south of the city of Utrecht alongside the A12 ring road and on the route to Ikea, so it is in the busiest part of the home furnishing centre.

By implementing its purchase and sale programme, coupled with its letting and sustainability activities, Altera further strengthened its portfolio in 2021 and aligned it with its investment strategy, which is focused entirely on investments in the everyday grocery shopping segment. This is a stable segment of the retail market and represents a particularly attractive investment for institutional investors, offering a higher income return while being sustainable and less vulnerable to e-commerce and business cycles.

Erwin Wessels, CIO of Altera, said:

‘Altera has owned the retail real estate in Utrecht for over 20 years. Based on our investment strategy for the retail fund, this was the right time for us to dispose of this superbly located peripheral/large-scale site. We are therefore delighted with this transaction, which will make Food & Convenience an even more dominant part of the retail fund.’

Purchases and sales in 2021

Altera purchased individual supermarkets in Lisse (Aldi) and Nijmegen (Albert Heijn) and the Brouwhorst neighbourhood shopping centre in Helmond. The non-strategic portfolio was further reduced through the sale of high-street stores in Breda, Haarlem and Apeldoorn, the Brabantplein comparison centre in Uden and finally, Kaap de Goede Hooplaan in Utrecht.

Ties Priester, Head of Transactions for abrdn, said

: ‘We are very impressed with the location and accessibility of the retail park. Given the forecast 1.5% volume growth for the Dutch retail market in 2022, after two years of contraction, this is the right time for us to acquire retail. The challenge, however, is finding the right location, and we have certainly succeeded in this case.’

Altera was advised on the sale by Cushman & Wakefield and Dentons. The buyer was assisted by Colliers.