Leeds business park sold for £17.25m
LAWNSWOOD Business Park has been bought by property investors Centurion Properties for £17.25m.
The deal comes just 20 months after Canmoor acquired the business park as part of a £70m deal that also included its stake in Birmingham Business Park.
The North Leeds park has 150,000 sq ft of offices and its 14 tenants include UKTI, accountants BHP and financial recruitment firm BWD. It produces a total passing rent of £1.58m a year, which equates to £14.74 per sq ft, and currently has around 40,000 sq ft of vacant space.
Centurion’s acquisition has been done through a new vehicle, Centurion Capital Partners, which is funded by property investment managers ICG-Longbow. The price reflects a net initial yield of 8.6% and an equivalent yield of 9.2%.
The purchase of Lawnswood Business Park follows Centurion’s acquisition of Bretby Business Park near Burton-upon-Trent in February and is part of the company’s growth strategy.
Julian Rooth, founder and chief executive of Centurion, said: “The acquisition of Lawnswood and Bretby mark a significant step in Centurion’s evolution. Both parks provide strong, sustainable cashflow, but offer significant potential to add value through asset management initiatives.
“At Lawnswood, there is the opportunity to lease the empty space, to explore lease re-gears and lease repositionings and to improve the space through a capital expenditure programme.”
Tudor Toone advised the vendor, Savills advised Centurion and ICG-Longbow.
