A substantial freehold industrial estate on London’s North Circular will be offered with a guide price of £4.4-4.5m at the February Acuitus sale.
The investment (lot 13) comprises five warehouse buildings plus yard on a 0.96-acre site in Barking, IG11. It produces current annual rent of £222,604 and could have longer-term development potential.
John Mehtab, Acuitus director, said: “London industrial assets are hugely sought-after at present and are rarely available. The strategic location of this property with its immediate proximity to the North Circular offers great potential.”
Retail property – which last year accounted for £560m, or 72%, of all commercial auction sales – continues to dominate the catalogue.
The 36 lots listed for the 17 February sale include 288-306 High Street in the west London suburb of Harlington, UB3. This unbroken parade of five shops and five maisonettes, with a large service yard to the rear, produces £126,120 pa and is guided at £1.6m-1.7m.
Other retail investments include a 5,330-sq ft Tesco Express with car parking in Harrow, HA2, let until 2036 (lot 10). The property – which also has eight sold-off residential units above which pay ground rent – produces £110,800 pa and is guided at £1.7m-1.8m.
The live-streamed online auction will also feature the Odeon Luxe Cinema at Swiss Cottage, NW3. The cinema is close to the famous pub from which the area takes its name, and is let on a lease expiring in 2032 at a current gross rent of £553,834 with annual RPI-linked reviews. The leasehold interest in the property, which expires in 2032, is offered with a guide of £2m.
Acuitus director Charlie Powter said: “This building has been a London landmark for nearly a century, and is a classic of the type of modernist Odeon cinemas which proliferated across the UK during the inter-war years. There are now very few left.”
Acuitus cPad analysis shows that the volume of UK commercial property sales at auction was £780.6m last year, the highest level of activity since 2017 and 43% higher than 2020.
Acuitus chairman Richard Auterac said: “The scope for buying in the auction room broadened during 2021 as investors targeted a wider range of asset types and sellers developed portfolio strategies that responded to a changed world.
“Investors are learning to live with uncertainty and become increasingly comfortable with it.
“So, with other things being equal, we expect the investor base to continue to grow this year – and consequently the number of active buyers.”
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