Acuitus has held its first commercial property auction of 2023, raising £13.3m with a success rate of 88%.
Highlights included a City of London office ground rent investment at Aldersgate House, 135-137 Aldersgate Street, EC1, (pictured) which sold for £1.455m at a yield of 4.61%. Seven parties registered to bid on this lot alone with bidding starting at £800,000 and ending in a sale price some 70 % over the reserve.
A 2.1 acre development land site in Manchester was sold on behalf of liquidators for £1.5m. Situated at 418 Chester Road and in close proximity to Salford Quays and Old Trafford, the site previously had planning permission for a high-density residential development of around 200 units.
Acuitus director Charlie Powter said: “The residential development sector is still feeling its way forward after last year’s economic disruption but this site has tremendous potential owing to its location and the high level of interest showed that residential developers are very much still active.”
Other lots of note included in the sale were another development property on Argyle Street in Glasgow City Centre, which sold for £910,000; a Roadside Trade Counter investment in Southend-on-Sea was sold prior to the auction, for around 20% above the initial guide price; and a high street bank, let to HSBC in Middlesbrough on a lease where the tenant was holding over, which sold for £680,000.
Acuitus chairman Richard Auterac said: “A number of lots attracted considerable attention from the very outset of our marketing, especially in much sought-after sectors such as development and ground rent investments. However, we have also seen sustained transactions across traditional high street retail, especially those assets let at sustainable rents.”
“Investor demand remains strong and we expect to see more transactions taking place through our market place as owners either look to recycle capital or face difficulties in refinancing assets.”
The next Acuitus auction of 2023 will take place on Thursday 30 March and will provide online, telephone and proxy bidding.
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