Clearbell Capital, the private real estate fund manager, today announces the acquisition of Octagon Retail Park in Stoke for £28m, on behalf of one of its funds. The net initial yield is 8.3%.

The asset is the first acquisition in Clearbell Property Partners III to be announced since the successful fundraise of £310m.

Octagon Retail Park is located in the core of Stoke’s out of town retail provision, the dominant centre between Birmingham and Manchester. The park is the region’s leading furniture and homewares retail park.

The site is located within a retail cluster in Hanley, Stoke. The site comprises 137,000 sq ft in total and is currently let to eight tenants, including DFS, Wren Kitchens and Sofaworks.

Clearbell identified this as an opportunity to reposition an asset in a strong Midlands location with minimal vacancy and clear asset management upside to consolidate Octagon’s position as Stoke’s leading furniture destination.

The retail park is focused on tenants selling bulky goods, with these retailers considered to be complimentary to the rise of online shopping.

Rob West, Partner at Clearbell Capital, said: “Retail is the main sector currently experiencing real distress, and this is starting to be reflected in pricing. The key is to buy off sustainable, rebased rental levels.

“Our research indicates that consumers purchasing large, expensive items like furniture tend to try before they buy and this is driving footfall resilience in retail warehousing.”

Clearbell was advised by Morgan Trend and Curson Sowerby. The seller was advised by First Alliance Properties and Harvey Spack Field.