Our years of experience means that Maritime have developed an unmatched ability to understand, recognise and acquire productive assets that other investors may simply pass over.
It’s all about the financing of the deal, recognising its eventual value, understanding the desire to occupy and appreciating the aesthetic of the buildings.
Being able to perceive the curb appeal in those environments, when the retailers rely on curb appeal, is key.
We appreciate that small changes can make major differences to the financial success of a project, and three boutique shopping developments in regional market towns perfectly illustrate this point.
Firstly, we identified a small mews of retail units in Cornwall that we felt offered enormous potential.
Situated in the centre of Truro, just to the east of the cathedral and the city’s prime retail streets, St Marys Mews was purchased with the view of holding it as a straight investment.
We revitalised the mews, renovating its external appearance and introducing new tenants.
Our proactive asset management quickly added 40 per cent to the value, which enabled us to refinance after just nine months.
The shopping parade produced a good income stream during our three-year ownership, after which it was sold at a profit.
Further north, Maritime also purchased Stow-on-the-Wold’s boutique Church Street parade of shops with a 30% vacancy rate.
Church Street is situated between the well-known Cotswold village’s high street and the main square, and consequently experienced high footfall of tourists and locals.
With this main benefit in mind, the Maritime team could see that by altering the mix of retailers and implementing a new signage and planting scheme, the street could thrive again.
Subsequently the street became 80% let and was sold on for a significant profit.
Another parade in the Cotswold village of Broadway had similarities to Stow on the Wold, and was subsequently packaged together to sell in a small portfolio, creating a premium through the character of two smart Cotswold schemes.
Again, we recognised the large amount of footfall that this asset was subject to, and with some hands-on day-to-day management, the investment was re-energised.
In all three cases previous owners had been a little frugal with their refurbishment plans. We improved the visual aesthetics, making them more attractive to tenants and creating value for our investors through higher rental incomes and impressive sale prices.
