Biggest shopping centre in the Highlands for sale at £18.5m
The Eastgate Centre in Inverness is on the market for a fraction of the price it sold for in 2015.
**Biggest shopping centre in the Highlands up for sale at £18.5m**
The asking price for the shopping centre has fallen by £97.5m since it was last bought.
The Eastgate Shopping Centre in Inverness has been put on the market with a guide price of £18.5m.
Estate agent Knight Frank has confirmed it has been appointed to market the centre for sale.
That marks a major drop from the price it achieved more than a decade ago.
Harbert Fund Management and Scoop Asset Management purchased it in 2015 for £116m through a joint venture.
Retail experts said the sharp fall in Eastgate’s value reflected a broader revaluation of traditional retail property amid pressures from online shopping and the disappearance of major department stores.
Prof Cathy Parker from Manchester Metropolitan University is a member of the UK Government’s high streets taskforce.
She said the main issue was not how to return Eastgate to its former retail model, but whether a new owner could work with the council, businesses and the community to give it a sustainable new purpose.
The centre opened in 1983, transforming shopping in Inverness and the Highlands, and two decades later a major extension was added at Falcon Square.
It later took a hit during the Covid pandemic when anchor store Debenhams closed.
The owners said Eastgate was "an attractive opportunity for investors" and that it was business as usual while the sale process was under way.