Harris Lamb oversees £4m Milton Keynes investment sale

A Milton Keynes warehouse has been sold for almost £4 million as investors seek high-yield industrial investments across the UK.

Investment specialist Harris Lamb was instructed to sell the 40,000 sq ft industrial opportunity at Wolverton Mill on behalf of a private, unidentified investor.

The successful buyer purchased the Featherstone Road site for £3.9m, representing a 7.59 per cent yield.

The site, occupied by global engineering and logistics firm CTDI Limited, is located in an established commercial area providing a variety of industrial and office stock, three miles away from Milton Keynes town centre.

Alex Eagleton, of Harris Lamb’s Investment team, said: “We are particularly pleased with the outcome of this investment as the sale price significantly exceeded the guide price, and represented a lower yield than initially forecast.

“The opportunity attracted a great deal of interest from potential investors, and the resulting £3.9m sale represented a yield of 7.59 per cent.

“There has been a marked spike in demand for single-let and multi-let industrial opportunities outside of London in recent months, and, as in this case, private investors are keen to enhance their portfolios with sites occupied by secure, stable tenants.

“This opportunity was particularly attractive to potential buyers as the sole tenant, CTDI, committed to a 10-year-lease in September last year.

“With a current passing rent of £258,700 per year, and with a tenant-only break option at the end of the fifth year, it assured the successful bidder a long-term, secure income from an established source,” he added.

Alex said that as a region, Milton Keynes enjoyed high interest levels from investors by way of the fact that many logistics firms choose it as a base for both regional and national operations.

“Major employers within the region include Coca Cola, Tesco and DHL, and there is also a substantial financial and business representation with Santander, The Open University, Daimler Chrysler and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office; all of which further cements the area as an attractive location to secure investments,” he explained.

The deal is the latest in a number of investment transactions overseen by Harris Lamb in recent months, including the £16m sale of Gateway 28 in Nottingham, the sale of the multi-let Central Works industrial estate in Dudley, West Midlands, and the acquisition of the Trafford Industrial Park in Redditch.