Which Club Are Top Of Property’s Premier League?
The World Cup has barely finished, but already the start of the new Premier League season is upon us.
To mark the occasion, Datscha, the PropTech platform which shows ultimate ownership of commercial properties, analysed the property deals of £3M or more in all of the boroughs where Premier League clubs are located, and compiled a Premier League table of property investment. It covers deals since the start of the last Premier League season and clubs that were in the Premier League last year.
So, who is top of the league, and who is facing relegation? Find out below.
1. Arsenal: £2B invested
Arsenal top the property investment Premier League table, perhaps unsurprisingly since Islington borough includes high-value areas like the City Fringe, where Ropemaker Place sold for £600M, and King’s Cross, where Regent’s Quarter sold for £303M. Get used to that sight Arsenal fans, it is the only table you’re coming top of this year.
2. Manchester United: £973M
Just as they did in the actual Premier League, Man United came in second, with deals like Carlyle’s £60M sale of the Soapworks in Salford — where United are actually based — among the standout deals.
3. Manchester City: £828M
Given the breakdown of where investment in Manchester was made, Premier League champions City trail their city rivals, with the £55M purchase of 1 New York St. by Royal London Pension Property Fund the largest deal.
4. West Ham: £362M
West Ham were in a relegation battle for much of last season, but the strong interest in East London puts them in the Champions League places as far as property investment is concerned, with multiple deals of £30M or less.
5. Newcastle United: £339.3M
Newcastle outperformed some of its illustrious London rivals in the period measured, with the sale of the Maldron Hotel by McAleer & Rushe to the U.K. Commercial Property Trust for £32M the largest deal.
6. Crystal Palace: £339.2M
Croydon, where Palace are based, saw a decent amount of commercial investment interest, including the purchase by value-add fund manager Tristan Capital of the Interchange office building for £71.5M.
7. Chelsea: £310M
The aristocrats of the King’s Road could only come in seventh, with the sale of the Sloane Club, a private members club, to Clearbell Capital for £80M the largest transaction. In property terms owner Roman Abramovich has also iced the plans for a new £1B stadium because he was denied a visa extension.
8. and 9. Liverpool and Everton: £309M each
The football clubs at Liverpool and Everton are less than a mile apart in the same borough, making it impossible to separate them for the purpose of this exercise. So Datscha took the £718M invested in Liverpool generally and divided it equally. The city saw one of the largest transactions outside of London, L&G’s purchase of the India Buildings for £125M.
10. Southampton: £295M
Southampton may have only just avoided relegation from the Premier League last season, but here they are firmly midtable. The sale of a B&Q store for £40M was the largest transaction in the city.
11. Watford: £283M
Private property company SevenCapital bought the 70K SF Gresham House mixed-use scheme in the largest deal in Watford during the period analysed.
12. Leicester City £253M
Leicester’s Premier League triumph three seasons ago was one of the greatest underdog stories in sporting history. In a league supposedly distorted by wealth, they defeated much richer teams over a 38-game season. For property investment, things are a bit more prosaic, with them comfortably midtable.
13. Bournemouth: £182M
The biggest deal in the south coast town was a purchase by the local authority, Hampshire Country Council, of the Mallard Road Retail Park for £47M, part of the recent spate of local authority investment in property.
14. Swansea City: £165.34M
If only Swansea’s football team could have matched its property investment, then a painful relegation would have been avoided. That said, the biggest deal in the city was the £15M acquisition of a store let to troubled department store Debenhams, so it is not all sweetness on the property side either.
15. Stoke City: £165.28M
Investment in Stoke was supported by the purchase by Tritax of two logistics units at Prologis Park for £79M. The football team couldn’t match that and were relegated.
16. Brighton and Hove Albion: £155M
In spite of the fact that the largest deal was the £8M acquisition of a former cinema as a redevelopment site, Brighton came above some illustrious rivals in the investment table, after having also stayed up in the Premier League.
17. Tottenham Hotspur: £71M
In spite of its London location, just £71M was invested in Tottenham’s home borough, Haringey, during the period in question, meaning that the club are at the opposite end of the table compared to the actual league.
18. Huddersfield: £33M
As we get into the property relegation zone, the numbers really dwindle. Just £33M was invested in Huddersfield, with the largest deal being the £6.3M sale of an Audi dealership.
19. Burnley: £19M
Burnely were one of the surprise packages of last year’s Premier League, playing defensive football that bagged them a place in the Europa League. But they are at the other end of the investment table, with the £6.5M sale of the Prestige Retail Park the top deal.
20. West Bromwich Albion: £3M
Oh dear West Brom. In art as in life, they are bottom of the Premier League and bottom of the investment table with only £3M invested. The biggest deal was the sale of the former HQ of the West Bromwich building society for residential development.
