Tesco chooses Trongate for another Express

DEALS

TESCO has acquired another new unit in Glasgow city centre for its Express format.

This one is a ground floor unit of over 4,000 sq ft on Trongate, close to its junction with Stockwell Street. Other occupiers nearby include Specsavers, Poundland, Shoefayre and MacDonalds.

Lambert Innes acted for Tesco, with the landlord, Elandome, represented by McParlane & Co.

RYDEN HIGH

EDINBURGH'S Royal Mile can still bring them in.

Acting for Rough Country Lodges, Ryden has concluded the letting of 12 High Street to the expanding retailer, Rainbow Edinburgh, on a 10-year lease. The 423 sq ft ground floor retail unit will trade as Born & Bred, a Scottish souvenir shop.

The property has been let within a month of being put on the market and the letting has achieved a high rent for the area at £68.57 per sq ft. Rainbow Edinburgh occupation is effective from 1 June, resulting in no rental void for the landlord, Rough Country Lodges.

Ryden’s Will Biggart said: “The level of interest and subsequent speed of the letting shows that there is still a great demand for retailers to be located on such a prestigious street.”

HIGHLAND JOY

JOY, described as a hip celebrity shopping emporium with Sienna Miller and indie band Kasabian claimed as customers, is launching a 2,458 sq ft outlet at the Eastgate Centre in Inverness, taking a 10-year lease at £120,000 a year.

And it is being joined by Lapis Jewellers, which is taking 215 sq ft as a showroom on a

Popular place - Edinburgh's Royal Mile

15-year lease at £28,000 a year.

Ross Wilkie, Associate with Cushman & Wakefield, joint letting agents for landlords Grosvenor with SGM, said the lettings "reflect the strength and ongoing demand for the scheme”.

JOY was represented by Pudney Shuttleworth, with Lapis unrepresented.

INDIAN RETURN

THE Bank of India, which last had a presence in Glasgow 10 years ago, is returning to the city by becoming the first tenant of a newly-refurbished office building at 169 Elderslie Street.

The State-owned Bank is taking the 1,435 sq ft ground floor of the office building on a 10-year lease at an annual rent £23,678 (£16.50 a sq ft).

Stephen McVey of Montagu Evans, who acted for Bank of India, said: “The premises fulfil the Bank’s exacting requirements, and the professional teams acting for both the landlords and the Bank have worked hard to ensure that the fit out is completed within a very short time frame.”

Nick Barrett of Cushman & Wakefield, which (with Gee & Co) represented the landlord, Acorn Property Group, said: “169 Elderslie Street has been refurbished at a cost of £1.5 million and offers 14,349 sq ft of office space in a prime location lying between the city centre and the west end."