UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCPT) has exchanged contracts to acquire the Regent Circus leisure development in Swindon for £40.5m from developers Ashfield Land.

The Regent Circus project is currently in the process of being created and will be home to an array of leisure and retail facilities, anchored by a six-screen Cineworld cinema and a Morrison’s supermarket.

Set out over 97,000sq ft (9,011sq m), the leisure development is being viewed as a catalyst for further regeneration of the Wiltshire area, with 94 per cent of facilities on offer coming under a pre-let status.

Also housing eight restaurants, the Lyons Sleeman Hoare-designed facility is to generate around £2.1m a year in rental income from its leases, which are based on an average occupier length of 20 years.

Completion of the deal is expected to take place once the development is finished later this year, with the leisure element expected to open in early 2015.

The project is expected to generate a number of jobs for the area as Morrison’s seeks to recruit 180 people for the new supermarket, while jobs will also be on offer at the restaurants and cinema on-site.

The £40.5m price tag on the deal is reported to reflect a net initial yield of 4.86 per cent, which is being described as a record for this property investment market cycle.