The live-streamed auction on October 28th raised £22.62m with a high buyer take-up rate of 86%.
Acuitus Chairman and auctioneer, Richard Auterac, commented: “By adding an additional auction we have increased the total raised for Autumn 2020 versus Autumn 2019 by 70%. We identified prior to the summer that investor demand was building for specific types of assets and we are pleased to have captured this demand from the market.”
The largest lot sold under the hammer was the £2.87m achieved for a freehold hotel and retail investment in Luton, Bedfordshire.
John Mehtab, Director commented: “We received unprecedented interest from hotel operators, developers and locally based property entrepreneurs. As the majority of the 30,000 sq ft building comprised a recently vacated hotel, the potential opportunities were very real.”
The demand for industrial estate investments remained strong with the sale of a freehold multi-let industrial estate in Broadstairs, Kent selling for £2.84m. Although the estate was dated, it was fully let and produced a current income of £240,350. A further leasehold industrial estate investment at South Cerney, near Cirencester, sold for £737,000 at a yield of 6.4%
Richard Auterac added: “Experienced investors are actively seeking out properties which offer asset management potential by acquiring investments such as shopping centres that can be usefully nurtured and re-positioned, buildings that permit extension of space or change of use to residential and industrial where the income risk is spread across a number of tenants.”
A number of substantial properties sold on the auction contract just prior to the auction. Among these was the White Rose Shopping Centre in Rhyl comprising 113,268 sq ft of retail accommodation on a site of 2.25 acres with tenants including Superdrug, Iceland, Specsavers, Warren James, JD Sports, Vodafone and Timpson.
Charlie Powter, Director, commented: “White Rose was a multi-let shopping centre which was the principal focus of the town. The sales particulars and due diligence pack required careful preparation and we had to work very closely with interested parties prior to the sale to make sure they had all they needed to commit to the sale within the timescale required by our client.”
When opportunities to invest are currently limited through lack of supply, London remains a hot spot. A prominent freehold Central London investment and refurbishment opportunity on Soho’s 14/15 D’Arblay Street also sold prior.
David Margolis, Director, commented: “Not only was there strong interest from over 20 serious parties which produced a sale price significantly in excess of the guide price of £5m but also a binding auction contract of sale was signed just three weeks after marketing commenced.”
Elsewhere, an attractive listed freehold retail investment in Wimbledon Village producing £72,000 per annum sold for £1.45m at a yield of 4.7%.
Richard Auterac finalised: “We’re seeing an increasing interest from our institutional clients and insolvency practitioners to be able to access the new sources of funds that are now available after the earlier Covid crisis, in a timely way before year end, using a binding contract.”