The Queens Arcade in the centre of Cardiff has been put into property receivership. The previous owner of the freehold interest in the two level retail scheme, Isle of Man based company Sapphire, is understood to have breached its banking covenant.
The undisclosed bank has maintained Addington Capital as asset manager for the scheme, while directors of property advisory firm Savills, Matthew Nagle and Kevin Mersh, have been appointed joint fixed charge receivers. Covering a two acre site, the Queens Arcade provides 150,000 sq of mainly retail space.
Addington and Savills will now work to stabilise what has been declining rental income at the scheme which opened in the mid 1990s and in recent years has been overshadowed by the adjoining St David’s Shopping Centre. This could see tenants on the ground level accessed via Working Street - which has the scheme’s lowest footfall - being relocated into units in its more popular parts accessed via Queen Street and St David’s Shopping Centre.
