Investor pays £14m in city centre swoop

THE Co-operative Insurance Society has sold a prominent property in Manchester city centre for £14.8m.

DTZ advised CIS in the sale. The building on Market Street, currently let to retailer HMV, was sold to a private investor in a deal with a net initial yield of 7.31%.

The property, 90-100 Market Street, comprises 32,721 sq ft and is let to HMV until February 2016. The passing rent totals £1.15m per annum.

Bruce Poizer, investment director at DTZ comments: “This disposal shows that there is still an appetite for prime retail property.

“There is certainly a resurgence of interest from private investors although this tends to be for lots of less than £5m.

“This made the sale quite challenging as normally only institutional investors can afford to fund such a large lot size with a relatively short unexpired lease term.”

Jones Lang LaSalle advised the purchaser.