The October Acuitus commercial property auction will offer 71 lots in what will be the firm’s largest sale of the year to date. The catalogue features a wide range of asset types located across the UK.
Among the lots with guide prices of more than £1m is a substantial pub with garden in Royal Tunbridge Wells which is being offered for sale by a major UK fund with a guide price of £2.4m. It is let to Marston’s Estates until 2054 with five-yearly RPI-linked rent reviews subject to a 1% collar and 4% cap.
Jon Skerry of Acuitus comments: “Leisure assets including a wide range of places to eat and drink are becoming increasingly popular with investors owing to their ability to provide long-term income with possible future asset management potential. We expect there to be strong interest in this well-located, well-let asset”.
Also nearby Royal Tunbridge Wells, the same fund is offering for sale the freehold of the Pembury petrol filling station and convenience store. The lot has a guide price of £2.55m and produces annual income of £165,611.
The auction features several mixed-use assets including 30-32 Granby Street in Leicester. Being offered on behalf of Receivers, it comprises a ground floor and basement let to a coffee shop/restaurant with 27 separately accessed flats above that are fully let on ASTs. The investment produces annual current income of £310,260 and is offered with a guide price of £2.25m.
An entire 26,235-sq ft freehold industrial estate at Harrowden Road in Bedford has a guide price of £2.1m-£2.2m. It occupies a 1.7-acre site with low site coverage of 32% and includes an undeveloped parcel of land.
Regional office investments are now attracting increased interest from investors and the auction includes the freehold of the 35,875 sq ft Southern House near Winchester, which is predominantly occupied by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS and South Central Ambulance Service with total annual income of £410,646. The property is being guided at £1.95m.
Units 7-8 at Quartz Point Business Park in Birmingham is fully let to Lely Atlantic until 2030 at an annual rent of £132,870. Guided at £1.05m-£1.1m, the Grade A office building is a mile from what will be the new HS2 Birmingham International Railway Station. John Mehtab of Acuitus comments: “There is improving investor sentiment towards the opportunities provided by strategically-located office assets let at sustainable rents and this property is firmly in that category”.
Assets in and around central London remain extremely popular with auction buyers and this sale includes 318 Chiswick High Road – a freehold retail and residential investment which produces annual income of £110,280 and is guided at £1.5m.
Acuitus Chairman, Richard Auterac, comments: “The diversity, quality and scale of the lots which this sale features are testament to the fact that sellers are increasingly seeing our auctions as the most effective mode of selling to achieve best value.
“We expect this trend to continue into the year-end as the growing number of sellers tap into increasing investor demand.”
The Acuitus auction will take place on October 30th at noon and will be broadcast via livestream on the Acuitus website with bidding online, by telephone and by proxy.
