260,000 sq ft warehouse development sold for £22.2m
UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCPT) has bought a pre-let 258,370 sq ft distribution warehouse development in Burton upon Trent for £22.2m.
The deal will be funded by the sale in January of 13 Great Marlborough Street for £30.5m.
The warehouse is on 14.8 acres of land at Centrum West in Burton upon Trent where the vendor, Goodman, is developing a large scale distribution scheme that has been pre-let to Palletforce, which has taken a 15 year lease.
Will Fulton, fund manager at Standard Life Investments, said: “We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition such a short time after the sale of Great Marlborough Street, and together the two transactions are a real example of what we are trying to achieve with the UKCPT portfolio, in terms of deploying cash into higher yielding assets let on long term leases to deliver sustainable income. Goodman is a very well respected specialist developer and the asset we are buying will be of the highest quality in a strong UK logistics location.
“The transaction amount represents around 25% of the capital we have available for investment on our balance sheet and whilst improving dividend cover, it also further increases our weighting in the industrial sector. We currently favour this due to the supportive underlying fundamentals, including the continuing growth trajectory of online retail in the UK.”
Nigel Dolan, development director at Goodman said: “We are delighted to have concluded this transaction with UKCPT. After delivering Palletforce’s current facility in 2008, we were very pleased to extend our relationship with the development of this brand new facility which will underpin their continued growth. We now look forward to partnering with Standard Life/UK Commercial Property Trust Limited as we progress construction and deliver a best in class asset.”
