RO has acquired a prominent 4500m² office development on the harbour front within Town Quay, Southampton, from TH Real Estate for £7.6 million. Existing tenants include Bank of Scotland, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Lambert Smith Hampton. There are two vacant floors totalling circa 811m² which RO is currently refurbishing having agreed a letting at €197.448 (£170,000) per annum; on completion of this letting the property will be fully let. The site is a short walk from West Quay and in an area that has been earmarked for significant redevelopment with numerous retail, commercial and residential development projects planned. LSH advised TH Real Estate on the sale of Southampton and CBRE advised RO.
RO has also just achieved the largest single sale of an individual property asset in its history, being the Staycity Hotel development in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The Staycity development, which consists of 170 apartments within a five minute walk from the City Centre, has been sold to KFIM Long Income Property Unit Trust (Knight Frank Investors) for almost €24.4m (£21m). Colliers advised RO on the sale of Staycity and Mulberry Bay advised KFI.
Alongside these two transactions the RO has also recently embarked on a speculative redevelopment project in Weybridge. Dakota, previously known as Persimmon House and acquired in late 2013, is a 2044m² headquarters office building which is being refurbished and extended to provide 3298m² of grade A space. Construction work has begun and should be complete by the end of March 2017.
Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, commented: “These three examples are all reflections of the RO’s approach to property; finding opportunities to create value in every asset we own whether through redevelopment, refurbishment or general asset management. In doing so, we aim to deliver the optimum returns for the company and the highest quality assets for our occupiers."
