Guardian Properties is buying No. 1 Victoria Square in central Birmingham for £19.325m. The sale price reflects a net initial yield of 9.4%.
Guardian has exchanged contracts with the freeholder, a private trust connected with Bilsdale Properties, to buy the 10,983 sq m (118,226 sq ft) building which is just off Colmore Row.
Tenants in the air conditioned offices include Arthur Andersen, Lloyds Bank, Scottish Equitable, Britannia Life and Birmingham City Council. Leases run, on average, for another 15 years.
Bilsdale – effectively part of Antler Properties at the time – bought the building from its developer, the West Midlands Superannuation Fund, in 1994. Bilsdale put No.1 Victoria Square on the market with a guide price of around £20m some 12 months ago.
Around that time, the building had been under offer to a mystery buyer for around £20.5m but the deal fell through.
Fletcher King is selling the building for Bilsdale Properties. Guardian is being advised by Grimley.
EGi News 09/10/97
