South African firm completes £14.3m purchase of automotive retail park

Evans Halshaw Motor Park in Priory Park, Hessle has been sold to a South African real estate firm in a deal worth £14.3m.

Kestrel Group c/o Marr Holdings, advised by Carrick Real Estate and Azure Property Consultants, completed the acquisition of the retail and business park from Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate.

The property is fully let by Pendragon Property Holdings Limited on a long-term lease and trades as Kia, Vauxhall, Citroen and Ford.

The four showrooms total 105,139 sq ft on a site extending to 11.24 acres. Neighbouring car showrooms include Jaguar, Mercedes, Lexus, Seat, VW and Audi.

In addition, the wider park is home to ARCO, Village Hotel, Aldi and Sainsbury’s.

Steve Carrick of Carrick Real Estate said: “Multiple factors contributed to the strategic acquisition of the asset, including the secure long leases and advantageous fixed uplifts, both of which will guarantee long-term performance for our client.

“Hull’s City of Culture status, its ongoing regeneration and economic growth is undoubtedly capturing national as well as international investment, and I anticipate this trend to continue.”

Jaysen Golding of Marr Holdings added: “This is the second UK property transaction concluded by Kestrel in the last month as it seeks to actively acquire a substantial real estate portfolio in secondary UK locations.

“Kestrel’s investment mandate is non-sector specific, rather focusing on value investments that present strong intrinsic fundamentals supported by sustainable long cash flow certainty.”

Knight Frank’s specialist automotive team acted for the vendor, Kennedy Wilson.

Adam Chapman, head of automotive at Knight Frank, said: “This is a landmark transaction for the region, and is further testament to the continued strength and international appeal of the UK automotive investment sector.”