The Hunt For Value Means Investors Can't Get Enough Of Birmingham Offices
Investors spent £146M on Birmingham offices in the third quarter, easily beating the 10-year quarterly average.
With the sales of the Colmore Building for £178M and the Lewis Building for £136M still to come, Q4 could be even better.
New data released by GVA shows the city region outperformed the 12-month quarterly average of £76M, and roared ahead of the 10-year quarterly average of £99M.
In its quarterly Big Nine report GVA said that activity was led by RPMI Railpen’s £95M acquisition of 2 Colmore Square and Cannon House, the largest investment deal to take place in Q3 in any of the U.K.’s nine big regional cities.
In the out-of-town market, Squarestone Growth bought Solihull's 2 and 3 Eagle Court — home to the regional headquarters of Virgin Media — from Aviva Investors for £21.6M, while Investin acquired Sapphire Court in Solihull for £12M from Cauldwell Properties.
“An increasing amount of parties are looking to the regions to seek greater value outside of London, and Birmingham is as popular as any regional city in the U.K.," GVA Director Jonathan Hilcox said.
“While some areas are seeing more subdued markets with Brexit on the horizon, the West Midlands continues to show signs of strength and continues to progress steadily.”
The city-region's industrial investment scene is also outperforming expectations. Royal London Asset Management is to pay £135M for the 800K SF Kings Norton Business Centre at a yield of 4.25%, Estates Gazette reports.
