A substantial freehold industrial estate investment on London’s North Circular is being offered with a guide price of £4.4m-£4.5m at the 36-lot Acuitus auction on February 17th.
The asset comprises five warehouse buildings plus yard on a 0.96-acre site at Barking. It produces current annual rental income of £222,604 and could have longer-term development potential subject to necessary consents.
Acuitus Director, John Mehtab, comments: “London Industrial assets are hugely sought-after at present and are rarely available. The strategic location of this property with its immediate proximity to the North Circular Road offers great potential”.
Last year retail property transactions in the UK commercial property auction market totalled £560m – which represented 72% of all sales by value.
Retail assets are once again prominent at the next Acuitus auction and include 288-306 High Street in the west London suburb of Harlington. This unbroken parade encompasses five shops and five maisonettes with a large service yard to the rear and currently produces annual income of £126,120. It has a guide price of £1.6m-£1.7m.
Acuitus Director, David Margolis, comments: “Assets where there is good present income and scope for redevelopment or conversion remain very popular with investors”.
Other retail investments at the sale include a 5,330-sq ft Tesco Express convenience store with car parking in Harrow which is let on a lease until 2036. The property – which also has eight sold-off residential units above which pay ground rent – produces total annual income of £110,800 and has a guide price of £1.7m-£1.8m.
The live-streamed online auction also features the Odeon Luxe Cinema at Swiss Cottage in London. The cinema is close to the famous pub from which the area takes its name and is let on a lease expiring in 2032 at a current gross rent of £553,834 with annual RPI-linked reviews. The leasehold interest in the property which expires in 2032 is being offered with a guide price of £2m.
Acuitus Director, Charlie Powter comments: “This building has been a London landmark for nearly a century and is a classic of the type of modernist Odeon cinemas which proliferated across the UK during the inter-war years. There are now very few left”.
Acuitus cPad analysis shows that the volume of UK commercial property sales at auction was £780.6m – the highest level of activity since 2017 and 43% higher than 2020.
Acuitus Chairman, Richard Auterac, comments: “The scope for buying in the auction room broadened during 2021 as investors targeted a wider range of asset types and sellers developed portfolio strategies that responded to a changed world.
“Investors are learning to live with uncertainty and become increasingly comfortable with it. So, with other things being equal, we expect the investor base to continue to grow this year and consequently the number of active buyers.
The auction will take place on February 17th at 2pm and will be broadcast via livestream on this website with bidding online, by telephone and by proxy. The full catalogue of properties can be viewed here
