A well-known Victorian office building in the heart of Birmingham’s Colmore Business Improvement District and one of Wolverhampton’s most prominent city centre buildings will both go under the hammer in the next Bond Wolfe sale on
8 December.
Law firm Grove Tompkins Bosworth recently vacated the Grade II-listed property at 54 Newhall Street to relocate across the inner ring road to Water Street. Its four-storey, 3,850 sq ft former office has been put up for auction on behalf of a family trust with a guide price of £550,000-plus (lot 4).
“It is absolutely prime in terms of the business district. It needs refurbishing and could suit boutique offices, a restaurant or private members club,” said Ian Tudor, Bond Wolfe’s joint managing director for auctions. “Interest has been tremendous.”
The bulk of Bond Wolfe’s catalogue (75-80%) continues to be made up of lower end residential lots, but Tudor said the firm has been bringing an increasing number of commercial lots to auction over the course of the year.
Another example, a property on Chapel Court in Wolverhampton, is let to the secretary of state for communities as a large Job Centre Plus with a lease break in 2023 (lot 24). Slot machine operator Merkur Slots recently took a single unit in the 18,784 sq ft property. Total rent is currently £145,966 per annum and it is guided at £1.25m.
The property is being offered on behalf of major Birmingham and Wolverhampton landlord Hortons’ Estates, which has owned it since the late 1990s. It occupies a prime city centre position close to the Mander and Wulfrun Shopping Centres and amenities including the bus, coach and railway stations. “At some point in the medium to longer-term it will provide a development opportunity,” Tudor said.
Another prominent Wolverhampton city centre office block, Waterloo Court, was also listed for the 8 December auction, guided at £2.8m (lot 186). However, the vacant block sold prior, through Bond Wolfe’s commercial investment agency team.
More than 190 lots are listed for the live-streamed sale.
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