Birmingham property investor makes multimillion-pound swoop for business park
Birmingham-based property investor Colmore Capital has expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of the 16-acre Wavendon Business Park from M&G.
The Milton Keynes park includes 147,874 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation in 16 acres of landscaped parkland.
Wavendon Business Park is home to multinational occupiers, including Unisys, Boeing Defence and Securitas Security Services.
The acquisition is the largest purchase of a multi-let office park in the UK in Q4 2020 and the third biggest since the national lockdown began in March, after Bourne Business Park (reported at £80m) and Maxis Business Park (reported at £67m).
The acquisition of Wavendon Business Park forms part of a successful Q4 for Colmore Capital, which has seen an industrial facility and a retail park added to its portfolio of assets under management, and the doubling in size of its office footprint on Birmingham’s prestigious Colmore Row.
David Corridan, founder at Colmore Capital, said: “The Milton Keynes area has consistently demonstrated the strength of its occupational market, with Savills estimating Grade A availability in the out of town market at 2.6%. It is already an attractive target for inward investors and has an exceptional growth trajectory, with the population expected to hit 500,000 by 2050 (an increase of 59%) and more than £5 billion of planned infrastructure investment.
“Combined with its strategic position at the centre of the OxCam Arc growth corridor and proximity to the national road and rail networks, we believe that Wavendon Business Park provides a perfect opportunity to attract further inward investment to the area.”
Colmore Capital has committed to further investment in the park’s amenities, including the provision of electric vehicle (EV) charging points, opening of a refurbished on-site café and nurturing and growth of the already extensive biodiversity throughout the grounds.
One of the park’s key buildings – the 39,500 sq ft Victory House – will also receive an extensive multimillion-pound refurbishment following current lease expiry in April 2022.
Corridan continued: “We have a clear vision of the kind of investment opportunities that we are seeking. Our risk-adjusted investment model – combined with our cross-sector knowledge and analytical approach – gives us greater flexibility than many pension funds or institutional investors in finding and developing the right assets in the right locations.”
Colmore Capital was represented by Savills while M&G was represented by M1.
