Kilpatrick secures £1m of deals at city centre site

KILPATRICK Property Group is reporting £1m worth of deals for space at a Liverpool city centre office building, just months after completing a major refurbishment.

Glasgow-based Kilpatrick bought 10-18 Castle Street in the summer of 2008 for just over £2m, and have spent £500,000 upgrading the Grade II-listed 14 Castle Street.

The firm has now completed three transactions, offering units with 250-year leases at nominal rents with interest from owner-managed firms.

The first office suite to be refurbished has been sold to FRD Risk Solutions, through a private SIPP, at a capital rate reflecting in excess of £180 per sq ft.

The accommodation extends to approximately 1,840 sq ft.

Kilpatrick has also sold the retail premises at 16 Castle Street to a private investment company. The property is let to Origin Rejuvenation Clinic and extends to 800 sq ft over ground floor and basement, until 2018.

The sale price reflects an annual yield of 7.6%, again on the basis of a 250-year lease at a peppercorn rent.

The two latest deals follow the sale of 18 Castle Street earlier this year, again to a private investor SIPP. 18 Castle Street is let to Furness Building Society and the sale price reflected a net yield of 6.37%. Maurice Glen, managing director of Kilpatrick Property Group, said: “We have been extremely pleased with the quality and extent of refurbishment that has been implemented at the above property, and this is reflected in the sale of the first-floor office premises at a figure in excess of £180 per sq ft at a time when the conventional leasing market is suffering from oversupply.

“Our approach from the outset has been to aim the individual office suites in Castle Street at small and medium-size enterprises seeking to purchase their own accommodation and we continue to believe that demand for this type of product will remain reasonably robust.

“The sale of the individual retail investments on the ground floor again demonstrates generally improving market sentiment for commercial property investment product with the strength of location and lot size being the main driving forces of demand.”

The property is being jointly marketed by Mason Owen and CB Richard Ellis.

Share