Acuitus sells £70.61m of assets at largest-ever auction

Acuitus’s largest-ever commercial property auction saw the sale of £70.61m of assets as investors continued to lock into the income returns and development opportunities that the sector offers.

Our five sales in 2016 have now raised more than £310m.

Acuitus auctioneer, Richard Auterac, commented: “The strong investment case made by commercial property was demonstrated once again today. Veterans of the saleroom were competing with investors who were making their first auction purchases”.

Although many buyers are being attracted by the investment yields on offer, there is also strong demand for development and active asset management opportunities. Grosvenor House in Norwich – a 50,628 sq f ft vacant office building with planning consent for conversion into 84 flats  – sold for £3.2m.

Neville House – a 28,126 sq ft multi-let office building in Waterloo Street, Birmingham which produces current annual rental income of £222,780 and has the potential for income enhancement through active management sold for £3.375m at a yield of 6.2%.

Prime retail and leisure investments remain very popular with investors. A 2,940 sq ft shop and restaurant property on Slough High Street which currently produces income of £50,000 sold for £980,000 at a yield of 4.8% while the Edward Rayne public house in West Wimbledon sold for £1.42m at a yield of 5.1%.

Richard Auterac comments: “Many investors were also particularly interested in the lots which offered ‘bond like’ income streams – most notably the ground rent investments which reflected yields of between 2% and 4%.

“It’s clear from our sales this year that there is a new generation of investors in the auction room and we are committed to providing them with a depth and detail of information which makes buying at auction as easy and  transparent a process as possible.

“We are finding that the new entrants to the sector are being drawn by the quality of our sales and also the analytic research into the market that we make freely available.”

Other notable sales at the October auction included:

• A shop with offices above at 140 Peascod Street in Windsor which produces total annual income of £53,000 sold for £920,000 at a yield of 5.4%.
• The Guy Salmon Land Rover showroom at Port Solent in Portsmouth sold for £2.43m at a yield of 7.9%.
• A heritable retail investment at 85-87 High Street in Ayr which is let to Greggs until 2031 at a current rent of £30,000 sold for £480,000 at a yield of 5.9%.
• The 25,595 sq ft Unit 2 on the Glebe Farm industrial Estate in Rugby which produces current annual income of £110,125 sold for £1.3m at a yield of 7.9%

The final Acuitus auction of 2016 will take place on December 8th at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, 22 Portman Square, London W1H 7BG.

The closing date for entering properties into the auction is Wednesday November 9^th.