New York based Marathon Asset Management, who purchased Ireland’s tallest building – The Obel – last month, has continued their investment in Northern Ireland by acquiring Cityside and Shane retail parks. The acquisition was handled by property consultants, Savills Northern Ireland. The deal was processed from sale agreed to completion in just over a week.

Cityside Retail Park is based just north of Belfast City centre adjacent to the M2/M3. The 272,868 sq. ft. park houses a number of key retailers including, Asda, B&M Bargains, Sports Direct and Home Bargains.

Shane Retail Park, located in Boucher at the junction of Boucher Road and Stockman’s Lane in South Belfast, comprises 170,889 sq. ft. of internal space and includes a number of high-profile retailers such as Homebase, Argos, Smyths Toys and Dunelm Mill.

Ben Turtle, Director of Investments at Savills Northern Ireland said:

“The acquisition of Cityside and Shane retail parks less than a month after the sale of The Obel is reflective of the increasing confidence in Northern Ireland as a location for investment. Over the past 18 months, the demand for investment properties – particularly from overseas investors – has increased quite significantly, and the speed at which this sale completed is confirmation of that”.

A number of high-profile investment transactions have taken place in Northern Ireland so far this year and Savills say that they expect the trend to continue:

“Last year we saw over £175m worth of transactions take place – more than the combined total of transactions since the start of the downturn. We’re now 5 months into 2014 and it already appears that the figure will be significantly higher by the end of the year.” concluded Mr Turtle.