Acting on behalf of Agha Sameer Anwar and Muhammad Abdullah’s Agha Group, property consultancy Fisher German’s capital markets team have secured the acquisition of the freehold interest in Cobac House, 14-16 Charlotte Street, Manchester, in a multi million pound deal.
The Grade II listed former warehouse in a core city centre location, on the edge of Manchester’s Chinatown and Piccadilly fringe, is fully let across 15,692 sq ft of accommodation with a restaurant in the lower ground floor and offices over upper ground to 4th floor.
The majority of the building is occupied by Bridge Insurance Brokers Limited, the largest privately owned insurance broker in the UK, employing 115 people from offices in Manchester and London and who have recently been acquired by Gallagher.
The deal with Gallagher takes Bridge into the ownership of one of the leading global insurance brokerages operating from 1,116 offices across 130 countries with revenue in the order of $13.3b. The lower ground floor is occupied by a stalwart of the Manchester restaurant scene, the well regarded, Little Yang Sing restaurant.
The combined rental income at the time of the deal was £271,250pa reflecting only £17.30 psf and is considered to be reversionary.
The investment opportunity was marketed for sale on behalf of the vendors by Gary Scorah at Commercial Properties Limited at £3,250,000.
Dominic Evans, Investment Partner at Fisher German commented, “We are delighted to again support Agha Group with the identification and addition of a core asset to their existing portfolio.
The attractive income/tenant profile, with well positioned floor plates to capture future market demand from SME occupiers and underlying rental growth potential made this an appealing proposition.”
Muhammad Abdullah of Agha Group added “We are pleased to welcome Bridge Insurance/Gallaghers and Little Yang Sing into our portfolio.
Cobac House is an exceptionally attractive building. We recognised the potential of this core asset and moved quickly to secure the transaction.”
The vendor’s legal representative was Marc Ferster, Real Estate Partner at Bexley Beumont Limited and the purchaser was represented once again by Joseph Brolly, Partner at Savage Silk.
The acquisition builds on multiple acquisitions completed by Agha Group, represented by Fisher German, over recent years.
