Former House of Fraser Richmond store acquired for £44.5m for mixed use development

The former House of Fraser department store at 80 George Street in Richmond, Surrey, has been acquired by Sheen Lane Developments through a £44.5m acquisition loan from Ask Partners and OakNorth, with plans for a mixed-use retail, leisure and office development.

The 0.5-acre site in the affluent south west London town, is a freehold, 61,000 sq ft premises – previously owned by Canadian and Arcadia – which also includes further adjacent retail space along Paved Court, making a total of 75,528 sq ft.

The site was originally purpose built as a Dickins and Jones department store in 1968, but was acquired and rebranded by House of Fraser in 2007, and was closed down on 20 September, 2020.

Acquired with vacant possession, the site holds a prominent high street position and has planning consent in place for extensive refurbishment.

Independent property advisory firm Clifton acted for Sheen Lane on the acquisition, and is retained to lead on the leasing and asset management of the site.

Richmond-based privately owned developer, Sheen Lane Developments, intends to deliver a landmark mixed-use commercial scheme and will apply to the Local Authority to change the consented use class to Class E, broadening the tenant mix of the scheme to include a health club and restaurants.

Martin Tynan, Director at Sheen Lane Developments, said: “We are delighted to have made this acquisition with financing from Ask and OakNorth Bank.  This building is of great importance to the vitality of Richmond town centre, and we have a great tenant line-up looking to take occupation in 2023.

“We look forward to working with the Local Authority to realise the potential of this building to reinvigorate this end of the high street and retain Richmond’s competitiveness as a commercial and leisure destination.”

Jim Remfry, Co-Founder of Clifton, commented: “The former House of Fraser store is one of Richmond upon Thames’ most recognisable buildings, fronting onto the prime retail pitch and with large open floorplates adaptable for a range of uses.

“We are delighted to advise Sheen Lane on the acquisition and look forward to working together to curate a new leisure, wellbeing and business space offer.”