Building Briefs:

RETAIL property investments in Leeds and Wakefield feature prominently in a forthcoming commercial property auction.

A 1,199-sq ft shop at 40 Albion Street in Leeds is among the lots on offer at the Acuitus auction on April 7.

Let to first Choice Holidays, the investment currently produces annual rental income of £91,500 and is up for sale for around £1m.

Acuitus auctioneer Richard Auterac said: “This is a prime property on a strong retailing pitch. It’s the type of asset that is most commonly traded among institutional investors and it is quite rare for them to come onto the open market.”

Wakefield retail units also feature in the sale. The Santander-occupied 21 Westgate in Wakefield is on the market for around £1m while the Game Station at 17 Kirkgate is expected to attract bids of around £240,000.

The auction will take place at 2pm at The Millennium Hotel on Grosvenor Square, London.

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THE Leeds office of property consultancy Sanderson Weatherall has been appointed to market the refurbished Centre 27 Business Park next to Birstall retail park by La Salle Investment Managers.

Comprising nine detached two and three storey modern office buildings the development offers more than 50,000sq ft of office space alongside existing occupiers including Lloyds TSB, Freedom Communications and Henry Schein.

Sanderson Weatherall will market the property alongside Jones Lang LaSalle.

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A YORKSHIRE design practice is behind the first UK Healthcare building to achieve BREEAM Outstanding at design stage.

Designed by P+HS Architects for Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust, Houghton le Spring Primary Care Centre has been awarded a score of over 86%.

The building is due for completion in August when it will be re-assessed in a BREEAM post-construction review where it is expected to retain the rating.

Joe Biggs, managing director of P+HS, said: “Working in partnership with contractor Willmott Dixon has provided many exciting design opportunities, in particular the incorporation of highly sustainable building solutions to ensure that the impact of the building upon the environment is minimised.”

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A POPULAR nightspot in Leeds is closing its doors during the redevelopment of Trinity Leeds but it has already set its sights on a major re-launch next year.

The Birdcage opened in 2001 on Boar Lane and is now being incorporated into the southern end of the new £350m Trinity Leeds scheme.

The club’s landlords, Land Securities, recently started the latest phase of redevelopment work on Trinity Leeds, which will offer around 1m sq ft of retail and leisure space when it completes in 2013.

Ken Dolecki, group operations manager at The Birdcage, said: “Obviously we’re disappointed to be closing while this work is carried out but when we re-open next summer we will be in a prime location along with a wide range of leisure destinations.”