Sellers at Acuitus’s final sale of the year are hoping to appeal to developers searching for opportunities.
Two vacant freehold office buildings in Manchester, a shopping centre in Birmingham and a former post office in Colchester are among the 44 lots to be auctioned on 11 December as sellers look to offload stock before the year end amid challenging conditions caused by the forthcoming General Election and high street gloom.
The offices, at 20 Lord Street and 30 Stocks Street in Manchester’s Green Quarter – one of the city’s emerging residential areas – are being offered with a guide price of £1m.
The properties currently comprise 10,641 sq ft of space on a 0.09-hectare site, which is located close to some of Manchester’s most recently completed residential tower blocks.
“These assets will be of interest to developers,” said David Margolis, investment director and auctioneer at Acuitus. “They are positioned in an increasingly stylish area on the north side of the city which has seen an influx of new residential development in recent years.”
Kingstanding Shopping Centre in north Birmingham, a 48,000 sq ft open-air mall comprising 23 shops and parking for 70 cars is also expected to appeal to investors hoping to acquire sites with development potential.
The centre currently produces an annual rental income of £200,000 and is being offered with a guide price of £1.5m – a price which, if achieved, would equate to a 13.3% yield.
Acuitus said that the centre’s prominent location and 2-acre footprint meant that it was able to offer current income as well as “the potential for some form of future development”.
A vacant post office building in Colchester in Essex is also likely to attract investors looking for an asset management or development angle. The 13,600 sq ft building in Colchester town centre is let to the Post Office on a full repairing and insuring lease until December 2021 at an annual rent of £135,000 and is guided at £1.4m.
The auction will take place on 11 December at The Montcalm Hotel, London, W1.
