PosTel has started a campaign to sell a large selection of properties owned by its older funds in the next 12 to 18 months, writes Gill South.
“We will be selling some retail, some office and some industrial through various agents. They will be larger lot sizes as our holdings tend to be a reasonable size,” said PosTel senior investment surveyor, Kevin McGrath.
McGrath said that, at the same time, PosTel would also seek to buy for its more active, new own-named funds within the next year.
In the first tranche of sales, PosTel last week agreed a £27.3m property swap with one of the family trusts of Bourne End chief executive Leo Noe. The trust, Retail Park Investments is buying the Sauchiehall Shopping Centre in Glasgow and an Edinburgh shop unit from the PosTel fund in exchange for a portfolio of five retail warehouses plus a cash payment of £4.27m.
The transaction gives PosTel a sale price of £20.5m for the 1970s shopping centre and a net initial yield of 8%. Tenants in the 150,000-sq ft centre include John Menzies, Our Price, Argos and Burton Group. The retail unit at 16-17 Princes Street, Edinburgh, has been sold for £2.7m, providing an initial yield of 5.15%. A standard shop, it is let to Burton Group for a further 19 years at a current rent of £143,000 pa.
PosTel’s newly acquired portfolio has three retail warehouses in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, all let to Texas Homecare on a 25-year leases from 1992. It also includes a retail warehouse park at Fareham, Hants, let to Texas Homecare, Ladbroke Retail Park and Granada Hospitality as well as a retail warehouse park at Luton Road, Dunstable, let to Texas Homecare and MFI.
PosTel was advised by DTZ Debenham Thorpe. Lee Baron represented Retail Parks.
