UBS Asset Management has bought a purpose-built DIY store in Harlow, Essex, for £25m.
The 52,000 sq ft site, bought by the asset manager’s Real Estate & Private Markets arm, was designed and constructed as a specialist DIY retail store and is let on a long lease to Wickes.
Gijsbert van Riemsdijk, head of investment management for EMEA, said: “This transaction represents an exciting investment for the UBS Long Income UK Property Fund. The acquisition of the purpose-built site is underpinned by a 17-year inflation-linked lease to Wickes.”
He added: “The out-of-town retail sector in the UK has performed incredibly well following the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the DIY space, and that is reflected in the recent long-term commitment shown by the tenant to the property. The asset provides attractive accretive metrics for the fund, while introducing another investment-grade tenant and further diversifying our income profile.”
UBS-AM REPM was advised on the transaction by Harvey Spack Field.
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