The strength of the market for good-quality secondary retail investments was reinforced at Allsop & Co’s auction last week, the first three shop lots in the catalogue all showing yields of under 10%.
At 9-10 Harding Parade, Station Road, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, a shop let to Ladbrokes at £10,875 pa was knocked down at £140,000, a yield of 7.8%, while at 1 Dean Parade, Old Dean Estate, Berkshire Road, Camberley, Surrey, shown here, a unit let to NSS Newsagents (Retail) at £3,500 pa fetched an impressive £47,500 — a yield of 7.4%.
In Kent, 4-5 Woodland Parade, Ditton, a Spar supermarket let at £6,250 pa and with a reversion in 1990, realised £80,000, a yield of 7.8%.
The most valuable lot in the room was “a somewhat less straightforward investment,” according to the auctioneers. Nos 177-179 Ladbroke Grove, London W10, is a ground-floor supermarket which has just been reviewed to £25,000 pa, plus three vacant upper floors. The upper parts have full planning permission for about 2,000 sq ft of offices on first and second floors and two flats on the third. The property also attracts an income of £1,450 pa from an advertising hoarding on the flank wall.
Price achieved for the property was £407,500.
The sale saw one unusual incident. A solicitor, believed to be representing the tenants of an industrial investment at Reginald Road, St Helens, Merseyside, went up to the auctioneer, Clive Carpenter, and asked to make an announcement before the lot was offered. He was, quite rightly refused, and the sale went on. The St Helens lot was knocked down at £325,000 for an income of £58,664 pa.
Successful sector
Also on offer was a petrol station, a sector of the market in which the auctioneers claim to have had “considerable success over the years”. The Greenford Park Service Station, 57 Greenford Road, Greenford in Middlesex, let to British Petroleum at £6,500 pa with a review this year, was knocked down at £182,000.
Total realisation from the sale was over £7.5m. Allsop & Co’s next sale is on May 19 and 20.
