Member Article

Creed believes in Citivale's High Wycombe shed

LC Industrial, a tie-up between LRE Capital and Leeds-based developers Citivale has concluded a significant industrial property deal in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

LC Industrial has let a 31,947 sq ft warehouse and distribution centre at Wooburn Industrial Park to leading independent wholesale food suppliers Creed on a ten-year lease. Rent is £8.50 per sq ft.

Creed will move into the premises in January, after a comprehensive refurbishment. Current tenants Bidvest are moving out this month.

The High Wycombe warehouse forms part of an off-market purchase by LC Industrial of a 500,000 sq ft five-property UK industrial portfolio last year.

James Appleton-Metcalfe of Citivale said: “This is an important deal, which is a ringing endorsement both of the quality of the High Wycombe premises and of our decision to buy the industrial portfolio last year. We are especially pleased to have let the property so swiftly in the wake of Bidvest’s departure.

“We are planning to re-clad the roof, refurbish the outside of the building and modernise the offices at a total cost of £250,000 after Bidvest move out and before Creed move in.

“Overall, this was a very attractive portfolio which offered significant value-add potential through a focused capital expenditure programme, letting up of vacant units and lease re-gears. Since completing the deal 12 months ago, we have already placed over 95,000 sq ft under offer in 15 deals across the portfolio, with several more in the pipeline.”

Jeff Carson of LRE Capital said: “The investment phase of LC Industrial has completed. Our focus has now turned to executing the business plans and delivering superior returns to investors.”

Philip De Ternant, managing director of Creed, explained: “We are expanding fast and needed a high-quality distribution warehouse to enable us to service our customers in the South East. This unit was perfect, in terms of location, size and layout. A decent-sized yard for our lorries was especially welcome and necessary.

“Our other main distribution centres are Cheltenham in the South West and Ilkeston in Derbyshire, so geographically, High Wycombe made perfect sense. The deal with Citivale went extremely smoothly and successful and we look forward to moving into our new warehouse early next year.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Beaumont .