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A roster of big name retail occupiers and international real estate buyers are running the rule over Topshop’s former Oxford Street flagship store.
Amazon, Nike, Ikea, JD Sports and Frasers have all expressed an initial interest in occupying the 100K SF store on Oxford Circus, Drapers reported. Topshop owner Arcadia went into administration in December, and when ASOS bought the brand in February it said it would not be taking over the lease on the store. The store remained closed when nonessential retail was allowed to open in the UK on Monday 12 April.
The store is owned by a subsidiary of Arcadia, and the subsidiary is also in administration. The administrators at KPMG appointed Savills to advise on the leasing strategy for the store, and Eastdil is advising on a potential sale. Savills started taking expressions of interest on the store from occupiers last week.
Some of the retailers that are looking to potentially occupy the store are also looking to buy it, including Mike Ashley’s Fraser’s and Ikea, React News reported.
Real estate investors in the mix to buy the building, which also houses flagship stores for Nike and Vans, include Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital, Norges Bank Investment Management and Ramsbury Invest, the real estate investment arm of the founder of H&M.
The building could sell for as much as £400M, React said. Apollo has a £310M loan secured against the building, which it extended to Arcadia in December 2019 after a previous loan from Royal Bank of Scotland matured.
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