Cromwell Property Group, the leading global real estate investment manager, has sold Imperial Place, Borehamwood to a fund managed by First Property Group plc for £62.5 million.
Since acquiring the four-building office campus in August 2014, Cromwell Property Group has completed a comprehensive asset management programme, which included a refurbishment of the on-site café and 29,000 sq ft of office space. In total 11 new leases were signed on 79,000 sq ft of space, increasing average rents from £18.50 psf to £22.50 psf, with the most recent occupier taking space at a headline rent of £25 psf.
Imperial Place is a 220,540 sq ft multi-let in-town office complex, which has 24 tenancies and 18 different business occupiers including Affinity Sutton Homes, Alstom Transport, Buyagift, Just Eat, Regus, Signet Trading and Taylor Wimpey.
Stephen Cahoon, Head of UK Asset Management at Cromwell Property Group, commented: “A key driver for our acquisition of Imperial Place was the identification of an opportunity to improve and re-let the vacant space in a market with reducing office stock. Office to residential conversion had been increasingly active resulting in a very tight office market. Our asset management team have done a great job and added real value by creating a quality product that appeals to occupiers, taking occupancy from 88% to 100% and increasing the annual rent roll by 29%.”
A spokesperson from Fprop, commented: “Borehamwood is a well-located office campus set to benefit from continuing strong occupier demand. We believe that current rents are attractively priced compared to surrounding offices in areas like Watford, St Albans and other locations close to the M25.”
Gerald Eve acted for Cromwell Property Group and Knight Frank advised Fprop.
