By Josh White
Date: Wednesday 11 Apr 2018
LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Regional UK commercial property investor AEW UK REIT announced the sale of office accommodation at Pearl Assurance House, Nottingham, for £3.65m on Wednesday.
The London-listed firm said the sale comprised the first to the ninth floors, a ground floor reception and car parking spaces, providing a total area of 41,262 sq ft, and reflecting a net initial yield of 6.9%.
Pearl Assurance House was purchased by the company in May 2016 for £8.15m.
AEW said it would retain the ground floor accommodation at the busy city centre location, totalling 28,432 sq ft, let to national retail operators including Costa Coffee, Poundland and Lakeland.
The retained element would provide the firm with an ongoing yield of 9.5%, based on its component value of £5.26m.
"Having completed numerous asset management initiatives within this property, including the completion of lease renewals across three floors and gaining consent for residential development across the upper floors, we believe that this is the right time to sell the office component of the asset having maximised its value in the short term," said portfolio manager Alex Short.
"We are pleased to retain the ground floor, which provides an attractive yield for the company in a major city centre location."