Aegeon has sold the Citygate Court office building in Manchester city centre to Hermes Property Unit Trust.
The 47,000 sq ft building, which is located on Mosley Street, was up for sale for £8.5m, reflecting a net initial yield of 8.5%.
The building is let entirely to Barclays, which operates a branch at ground floor level and five floors of office space above. It has occupied the space since 1989.
Earlier this year, Hermes disposed of two key assets in Manchester. In July it sold the 84,000 sq ft 101 Barbirolli Square building to Scottish Widows Investment Partnership for £30m at a yield below 7%. In June, it sold the 47,500 sq ft 55 Spring Gardens office building on behalf of the British Telecom Pension Scheme to Linder Myers Solicitors for £8.5m at a 9% yield.
Gary Scorah, partner with OBI Property, which acted for Hermes, said: “Hermes had considered a number of properties in the city but believed that Citygate Court was better positioned in the market and would show future resilience. The building offered them a property within Manchester’s traditional core showing a healthy return from the current tenant but with future opportunity to asset manage should the opportunity present itself.”
Jones Lang LaSalle acted for Aegon UK.
daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com
