Investor sells off city offices for £2.3m

A Leeds office building occupied by the Drivers & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has been sold.

Property investment business, Ace Liberty and Stone, today confirmed its sale of Hillcrest House for £2.3m. The business had bought the property in November 2013 for £1,450,000.

Hillcrest House is a five-storey, 21,000 sq ft building in Harehills Lane which is currently a DVSA regional office.

Ace notes that prior to the expiry of the lease in March 2019, it negotiated and agreed a new lease to the DVSA for a further five years from August 2018.

It adds that planning consent for conversion to residential apartments has recently been obtained.

Ace says the sale of this Leeds property, along with two other building sales elsewhere in the UK, has netted it profits of £2.8m.

Ismail Ghandour, Ace Liberty and Stone’s CEO, said: “These property sales yield a profit of nearly 35% on the prices originally paid in addition to the very substantial rents received over a long period.

“The cash from the sales enables a reduction in borrowing, which in turn strengthens the company’s position for future acquisitions and growth.”