A large outdoor shopping centre has been put on the market for £25million.
Fremlin Walk in Maidstone opened in March 2005 and is made up of some of the town’s biggest shops – including House of Fraser, H&M, Pandora and Boots.
It’s described by estate agent Knight Frank as Maidstone’s “prime shopping centre and town’s focal point” and has more than four million visits per year.
Now, the units at the site, which provide more than 350,000 sq ft of space, have been put up for sale.
It comes as the shopping complex is set for the arrival of new brands such as Frasers, Flannels, and Sports Direct.
The centre is also the owner of the town’s primary car park which has 760 spaces.
A brochure from the Tunbridge Wells-based estate agents explains Fremlin Walk occupies six acres of the town centre and benefits from a gross income of £4,298,835 per annum and a net income of £2,771,209 after deductions of landlord shortfalls.
It continued: “Maidstone is an attractive Kent town, featuring a mix of independent shops, major retail chains and a variety of bars and restaurants to cater to its residents.
“It is ranked 54th nationally and is one of the top 15 retail locations in the South East.
“The majority of the retail provision is located in or centred around two main shopping centres, Fremlin Walk and The Mall. Fremlin Walk is the focus for multi-facia retail occupiers including H&M, Boots and Frasers (opening later this year) and provides a number of regular-shaped large and medium sized units.”
At the beginning of the year, Tim Hance, a business expert, said the council “destroyed” the town centre by allowing the likes of Marks & Spencer to move out of the town centre and onto a retail park.
He said: “They have scored an own goal by giving planning permission for Marks and Spencer to move out of town into an ill-conceived location.
“You’ve ripped two of your major anchor stores for the town centre out of town. There’s free car parking, but the car park is almost impossible to get to.
“Don’t get me wrong, paid car parking is also an issue. Fremlin Walk is expensive, so I don’t think that’s helped itself either.”
The shopping centre has said farewell to several shops since it opened nearly 20 year ago.
We waved goodbye to Topshop, which went into administration in November 2020 after closing all branches across the UK.
However, the unit was quickly replaced by gift and gadget retailer Menkind.
One of the most recent closure was in December when fashion retailer Zara shut unexpectedly. It was a massive blow to the town centre during the festive period.
Other mentions include Laura Ashley, which closed during winter 2020 as well as the Early Learning Centre and Thomas Cook store, which shut in 2019.