Soaring demand for food outlets boosted sales at Acuitus’s latest commercial auction, raising a total of £29.08m.
The event, which took place last week at the Millenium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, W1, saw a 2,300 sq ft drive-through McDonald’s in Romford (pictured) sold for £1.6m at a yield of 4.77%, let on a 25-year lease.
Meanwhile, a Starbucks coffee shop at Wisley North service station in Surrey sold for £1.05m at a yield of 6.75%, while a 3,000 sq ft Café Rouge in Leamington Spa sold for £1.36m – a yield of 6.05%.
Other properties occupied by Burger King in Erdington and Hillington Retail Park also sold for £995,000 and £755,000 respectively. These represented yields of 6.3% and 8.2%.
The interest in two units let to McDonald’s and Chiquito in the West Midlands also sold for £1.05m.
Acuitis auctioneer Richard Auterac said: “Whatever question marks there may be against some areas of mainstream retailing, investors can see that restaurant, café and grab-and-go food offers are flourishing across the country.”
Auterac added that buyers remained “highly selective”, and that the market was “continuing on its long journey of re-adjustment”, with properties in receivership all finding buyers.
High street shops also attracted strong interest, with a 1,900 sq ft Ben Sherman store at Camden Walk, N1, sold for £1.66m at a yield of 5.1%.
Regional office blocks also sold well. The 44,400 sq ft multi-let Park Plaza in Cannock, Staffordshire sold for £2.03m, while Manchester’s 6 St Ann’s Square – a freehold retail and office investment let to Choxbox – sold for £1.49m, a yield of 6%.
The 13,600 sq ft Fontayne Business Park in Tottenham, N15, also sold for £1.4m.
