The headquarters of The Lady magazine will go under the hammer at Allsop’s first auction of the year.
The 11,140 sq ft freehold office and residential block at 39-40 Bedford Street, WC2, is being offered with a guide of £12.5m-£13m. The Lady has been based at the block since 1891 but has a lease expiry in September, opening up the potential for a considerable development opportunity in the heart of London’s Covent Garden.
The lot, which provides an annual income of £170,000, is expected to attract interest from UK and overseas investors and has already had strong interest from the restaurant sector.
The Lady’s HQ is just one of 144 lots on offer at the 5 February auction. The sale, which also includes a shopping centre in Scotland with a £1 reserve, as reported by EG last week, has the potential to be one of the highest-yielding auctions for Allsop Commercial in five years.
London and the South East predominates, and the average value of the top 20 lots offered has increased to £2.5m, up from £1.6m in December last year. The sale will feature some 30 lots with guides of more than £1m, with seven guided at £2m or more.
Allsop partner and auctioneer George Walker said: “We finished 2018 with a strong run of sales from the December auction, and our clients have responded to this liquidity with a broader offering of high-quality assets than we have seen for over five years.
“Given the right asset mix and pricing, the private investor seems to be investing almost in spite of the uncertainties from Westminster. Unlike the stock market, commercial assets offer solid long-term returns and, with interest rates expected to hold steady, these high-yielding assets appeal.”
The auction will take place at the Berkeley Hotel, SW1, on 5 February.
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