West Riding House bought by Moorfield

A LANDMARK Yorkshire city centre building has been bought out of receivership in what is expected to be one of the region’s biggest property investment deals this year.

Moorfield Group has paid an undisclosed sum for West Riding House in Leeds city centre.

Some commentators have put a price tag of around £50m on the building, which is home to retailers including Next and Tesco Metro.

However, Next is set to relocate to the nearby Trinity Leeds shopping centre.

West Riding House was placed in Law of Property Act (LPA) receivership last year by Anglo Irish Bank when its owner, a private investment company, defaulted on a loan that it used to buy the 15-storey mixed-use block.

Andrew Rodger and Roger Phillips, of property consultancy GVA in Leeds, were appointed as LPA Receivers last April.

Moorfield, on behalf of its Moorfield Real Estate Fund II, has bought a building that includes 64,000 sq ft of prime retail space and 76,000 sq ft of offices, supported by a 440 space multi-storey car park.

Office occupiers include outsourcing firm Capita and recruitment company Badenoch & Clark.

The investment opportunity was identified through Moorfield’s joint venture partnership with Leeds-based commercial property and development company Holbeck Land.

MREF II is a fund with around £400m of private equity which has been identified as investable in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Marc Gilbard, chief executive of Moorfield, said: “A scheme of this size in such a prime location made West Riding House a very interesting investment opportunity. There is the scope to further asset manage this building by attracting new occupiers and exploring the opportunity to extend existing facilities.”
 
Ian Barraclough, of Holbeck Land, said: “With founder directors Robert Firth and Freddie Coupe we have a longstanding association with the building and our appointment to work alongside Moorfield as joint asset managers provides the opportunity to combine our knowledge and skills to enhance the performance and efficiency of the investment.”

GVA led the sale of the property.

Andrew Foster, director at GVA’s Leeds office, said: “This is a monumental deal for GVA given that it was the largest LPA appointment any firm has handled in Leeds in recent years.
 
“We were confident, given its prime city centre location, the fact there isn’t a lot of stock of this lot size anywhere in Leeds and the fact that the investment market is now more buoyant, that West Riding House would attract significant interest.”

Savills acted on behalf of Moorfield Group.

Simon Lister, director at Savills in Leeds, said: “This deal represents a unique and significant transaction for the Leeds market and offers a great opportunity for Moorfield and Holbeck Land to unlock the potential of this asset.”

Under LPA appointments, lenders are able to intercept rental income from defaulting properties by use of a third party appointment.