Minerva moves to swing Allders’ Croydon deal
Rent-free period for existing outlet
The former owner of Allders has formally dropped an agreement for a new store in Croydon.
With Allders in adminstration and administrator Kroll unable to sell the business as a going concern, property company Minerva, the majority shareholder in Allders’ owner Scarlett Retail, has formally ended a development agreement for a new store in Allders’ home town.
The deal was originally made after Minerva acquired the valuable freehold of Allders’ existing store in Croydon. The site forms part of Minerva’s planned Park Place development in the town, with Minerva known to be hoping to attract a higher profile department store tenant to anchor the development.
The Croydon store is not on the list of sites which Kroll expects to have to close, indicating that a new tenant is in the wings for the store, one of the biggest department store sites in the UK. With Debenhams and House of Fraser already trading in Croydon, there has been speculation that John Lewis might take the Croydon site.
Clearly hoping to facilitate a deal, Minerva said it has also granted the administrators a rent-free period on the Croydon store, starting on March 26 and running to May 9.
