‘Rackhams’ building in Birmingham sold for £71.4m

THE House of Fraser building in central Birmingham has been sold by British Land to Legal & General for £71.4m.

Still referred to by many locals as Rackhams – its former retail identity – the House of Fraser building has been sold as part of a sale of £256m of retail and office property that also includes a retail park in Hull and a mixed use block in Maidenhead.

British Land said: “This activity is in line with our strategy to evolve the portfolio to meet the needs of our occupiers and their customers.  Throughout the financial year, we have taken advantage of strong investment markets to make selective disposals of more mature assets.” 

These latest deals bring total sales of British Land’s UK income generating assets to around £620m over the last 12 months. 
 
The building in Birmingham’s Corporation Street comprises a 490,000 sq ft majority freehold department store let to House of Fraser.

Corporation Street remains one of central Birmingham’s main shopping streets but has suffered from shoppers favouring the Bullring and also from disruption caused by building work for the Midland Metro extension.

British Land was represented in the deal by CBRE while Legal & General was represented by Knight Frank.