Middle Eastern investor snaps up office building in £24m deal

Lateral Leeds, a multi-let office building in Leeds city centre, has been sold for £24m to a private Middle Eastern investor.

The grade A office building, which comprises 95,317 sq ft, is currently let to The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Highways England and is home to a total of eight Government departments and agencies. The purchase price reflects a net initial yield of 7.99%.

Lateral Leeds is located within the City Walk development in Leeds which has access to Junction 3 of the M621 motorway. The building is fully occupied with a current passing rent £2m per annum.

The Leeds and London offices of Cushman & Wakefield acted jointly on behalf of the vendor, DWS whilst Knight Frank advised the purchaser. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ADIB – a leading Middle Eastern financial institution, arranged and structured a Sharia’a-compliant transaction to finance the acquisition of the property on behalf of the investor.

Rebecca Farnsworth of Knight Frank said: “Our client has been keen to acquire an investment in Leeds for some time and the quality of the property, improving South Bank area and sensible passing rent all appealed.”

Richard Brooke of Cushman & Wakefield in Leeds added: “Cushman & Wakefield has had a longstanding involvement with this building, dating from its construction and pre-let to the Secretary of State in 2005. This is now the third time we have advised on the sale of this building and we are delighted to complete the transaction”.

Jeremy Beckett from Cushman & Wakefield’s Investment team in London, added: “The transaction demonstrates the continuing appetite amongst overseas investors for good quality buildings with asset management potential throughout the UK regional markets.”

Paul Maisfield, Head of Real Estate at ADIB UK, said: “The high yield provided by commercial real estate in cities such as Leeds is becoming increasingly attractive to investors from the Middle East. ADIB UK has established a leading position in providing Islamic financing solutions to a range of individual and larger investors seeking access to this thriving segment of the UK property market.”