Member Article

Sale of £31.4 million Sheffield business centre in top major investment deals of 2014

Sheffield’s sale of the £31.4 million Pomona Business Centre ranked in the top major regional office investment deals completed nationally in the first quarter of 2014 according to research by commercial property experts Knight Frank.

The 131,000 sq ft business centre on Pear Street, formerly Norwich Union House, was purchased by American Realty Capital Global Trust from vendors Hudson Advisors UK Ltd in March this year.

It was one of three properties owned by the estate of deceased Irish property tycoon Patrick Rocca and is 100% leased to Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited until June 2029.

Rob Hepworth, Sheffield-based associate at Knight Frank, said: “Investor appetite for regional offices remains strong with activity being constrained by the scarcity of available stock. The strong weight of money chasing limited product continues to put pricing under pressure.

“Institutions remain the dominant buyers in the regional office markets although overseas investors such as US private equity and opportunity investors are increasingly competing for higher yielding assets, thereby blurring the traditional delineation of demand for particular types of stock.

“The weight of money in the market is expected to fuel further price increases throughout 2014, although the rate of yield shift is expected to ease. Moving forward, performance is expected to be driven increasingly through income growth, as the recovery in the occupier market accelerates and rental growth becomes more widespread.”

Last month, Knight Frank’s Wealth Report highlighted how wealthy foreign investors spent nearly £1 billion over the last two years buying up chunks of commercial property in the Yorkshire region when London failed to hit the mark for place or price.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .