Reading: Oracle shopping centre stake to be sold for £200m-plus?

A subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has appointed JLL to sell a 50% stake in Reading’s Oracle shopping centre, the first time the centre has come to market since it was developed in the late 1990s.

The 760,000 sq ft mall opened in 1997 and incorporates The Riverside, Town Walk and Holybrook Walk.

The disposal is targeting investors looking to tie up with one of the UK’s best known shopping centre developer/managers in Hammerson at one of the South East’s key retail and leisure destinations, generating annual footfall of 15 million.

Tenants include Zara, Apple, Next and Vue cinemas, which anchors the Riverside leisure area. The 50% stake would be expected to fetch significantly in excess of £200m.

The centre sits on a near 20-acre riverside site with a large car park.

At the end of last year Hammerson lodged plans to reconfigure the 130,000 sq ft House of Fraser at the mall as a giant food hall and bowling alley with shops, as it focuses on activating its riverside position and the repurposing of UK department stores continues apace.

Source: CoStar