A landmark shopping centre is up for sale.

Bouverie Place shopping centre in Folkestone is owned by Warner Estate which has put it on the market along with its mall in Southend.

While the exact price for Folkestone’s centre is not known, the two together are available for a reported £75m.

Despite a backdrop of sliding property prices and a difficult retail environment, Bouverie Place is considered to be holding up well. However, some of the units have never been taken up since the centre opened just over a year ago.

John Peacock, divisional director of retail at Warner Estate said: “We have received expressions of interest from a number of parties on the sale of Bouverie Place Shopping Centre and are currently considering each of them.

“Bouverie Place has performed very well since its opening in November 2007, when it introduced retail brands new to Folkestone, including an 83,000sq ft Asda, a BHS department store and Next.”

Warner Estate is a property investment and management firm, with various property funds under its control.

It is staying tight-lipped as to why it is offloading the centres and it is known to have renegotiated its banking facilities last October – with the result that as the London Interbank Offered Rate goes down over time it should save more and more cash.

Speaking on the release of its 2008 accounts in November, chairman Philip Warner said: “We are concentrating on those areas which we can control, namely, improving our income, reducing our costs and maximising our cash.

“We are being proactive in meeting the challenge of falling values and remain in compliance with our banking covenants.”

The news came as a shock to Bouverie Place tenant John Barber, Folkestone’s town centre manager. However, he also saw it as something which could be positive for the town.

He said: “This one’s done quite well really and I would have thought that shoppers will not notice any difference. People will still operate in the same way.

“It may actually be excellent news. Whoever buys it will have businesses they know and work with and there are still two big units to fill, and three small ones.

“Warner spent a fortune on it and will want to recoup their costs.”