Alliance sells York property to BBRE for £5m

Property Alliance Group has sold a mixed-use property in York for £5m to Boultbee Brooks Real Estate (BBRE), a privately-owned property investment and development company.

Spanning 23,091 sq ft, 16-24 George Hudson Street includes Grade A office space spread over three floors with retail units on the ground floor. Tenants include My Knowledge Map, bus operator First York, and engineering consultancy Halcrow, which has recently been acquired by Jacobs.

The property produces a current income of £393,208 per annum and benefits from an AWULT of approximately six years.
The Manchester and Leeds offices of Cushman & Wakefield jointly represented Alliance. BBRE was advised by Aurum Real Estate.

Rob Peill, Head of offices at Alliance said: “This is a prime asset conveniently located less than a five-minute walk away from York Station. Since acquiring the property, we’ve invested in an extensive refurbishment to meet the huge demand for high-quality Grade A office space in York, including remodelling the reception area. This has attracted a steady flow of new tenants with strong covenants making it an ideal investment opportunity.”

Simon Marshall of Cushman & Wakefield in Manchester said: “We are delighted to have been able to work with Alliance on 20 George Hudson Street. The sale represents the culmination of a long-standing relationship between Cushman & Wakefield and Alliance on this property. Following a best in class refurbishment, Alliance was able to achieve an excellent tenant line up and pass the asset on to BBRE offering the opportunity to build upon a healthy day one yield with a number of active asset management opportunities.”

Richard Brooke of Cushman & Wakefield in Leeds added: “The centrally-located Grade II listed building offers some of the most attractive office space in York and its popularity with occupiers is evidenced by the lettings achieved by Alliance since refurbishment. We fully expect that the asset will continue to perform well for its new owners BBRE.”

Lucy Boultbee Brooks of BBRE, said: “The acquisition of George Hudson Street adds another high quality, multi-let office building to our growing investment portfolio and complements our other holdings in the City. Given the short supply of quality offices in York, we believe the property is well placed to deliver further rental growth in the short to medium-term.”

Commenting on behalf of the purchaser, Robert Cannock of Aurum Real Estate, who is BBRE’s retained portfolio investment advisor, said: “This acquisition continues our drive to invest in strong regional office markets with sound fundamentals. BBRE have further equity available to commit to this type of transaction and we will be continuing to target similar opportunities this year.”