Gazeley has become the latest industrial investor to bring a major portfolio to market.
The shed giant and insurance firm Metlife have put three warehouses totalling more than 1.5m sq ft up for sale. They are expected to fetch £100m.
The largest of the three properties is the 700,000 sq ft Flair building at G Park in Rugeley, Staffordshire, which was let to online superstore Amazon this summer. Amazon agreed a 15-year lease at around £4 per sq ft on the shed. The other assets are the 360,000 sq ft G Park Liverpool – let to DHL on a 10-year lease – and the 168,000 sq ft G Park Hemel Hempstead.
Talks are under way to let the Hemel Hempstead shed to retail wholesaler Palmer and Harvey on a 25-year lease.
Gazeley is also understood to be considering a sale of its vacant 275,000 sq ft Solar building at Magna Park Lutterworth in Leicestershire, after receiving a strong bid for the property. The shed is likely to sell for around £10m.
Gazeley’s decision to offload the properties means that more than £600m of industrial assets have been brought to market in recent weeks.
ProLogis is planning to sell 10 properties – valued at around £175m – spanning the north of England and the Midlands as part of a shake-up of its portfolio following its merger with AMB, while Hermes and Legal & General have put the 4.4m sq ft of sheds in their UK Logistics Fund up for sale for £320m.
The disposal strategies reflect owners’ increasing confidence in the level of liquidity in the UK market and the growing influx of overseas money.
One agent said: “The view is that there is more than enough money around for all these properties on the market. They are different products for different mouths.”
CB Richard Ellis is advising Gazeley in Liverpool and Rugeley; Savills is acting for the investor in Hemel Hempstead.
