Trafford Centre asset manager confirmed

Pradera Lateral, a joint venture formed at the end of last year between shopping centre management specialist Pradera and retail developer Lateral Property, has been chosen to manage the Greater Manchester mall.

Pradera Lateral was appointed by Trafford Centre owner, Canadian pension fund CPP Investments, following a competitive tender process and starts its role with immediate effect.

CPP acquired the 2.2m sq ft shopping centre in December through its wholly owned subsidiary CPPIB Credit Investments, by exercising share rights as the main secured creditor of the asset’s former owner, Intu Trafford Centre Group – whose parent Intu Properties went into administration last summer.

The value of the deal was not disclosed but was thought to be around £800m – significantly below the Trafford Centre’s last valuation of £1.2bn before Intu’s collapse. Real estate consultancy Savills was appointed property manager for the Trafford Centre last August and is to continue in that role.

Pradera Lateral together with its other group companies manages a retail property portfolio of more than £3.5bn, comprising 58 assets, including shopping centres in Chongqing, Shanghai, Istanbul and Turin. Among its flagship development projects is Axiom, a 600,000 sq ft new shopping centre planned near Castleford in Yorkshire.

Pradera Lateral has a team of 35 people in the UK, spread across its headquarters in London and other UK offices in Harrogate and Manchester. The latter two are expected to be combined into a new office based at the Trafford Centre. Last year, Trafford Centre developer and major Trafford landowner the Peel Group vacated its longstanding office – known as the Peel Dome – within the mall and relocated to the Venus building at nearby TraffordCity.

“We are looking forward to designing and delivering a successful future for The Trafford Centre, with our immediate priorities being to help support brands through the reopening and welcome back our customers to this very popular retail and leisure destination,” said Pradera Lateral chairman Colin Campbell.

The Trafford Centre is anchored by Selfridges, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer and has around 200 other stores and 11,500 car parking spaces. It was built by Peel in the late 1990s and opened in September 1998.

Fraser Pearce, director of Trafford Centre Group now owned by CPP said: “Our appointment of Pradera Lateral as asset manager marks a major step forward for the Northwest’s leading retail and leisure destination.

Pradera Lateral was selected as asset manager for its experience in UK asset management as well as strong global retail experience.

“It has a mandate to both stabilise the centre during the ongoing reopening in 2021 and restore the centre as a leading UK retail and leisure destination.”