South East: LSH involved in high-profile investment transactions  

Three high-profile investment deals in Portsmouth, the Thames Valley region and at Chandler's Ford have recently been completed by the Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) South Coast team. 

LSH advised Portsmouth City Council in its acquisition of a new 100,000 sq ft warehouse in Minworth, West Midlands, which was let to DHL for 10 years at a price of £12.4 million, equating to a net initial yield of 5.05%.  The unit was constructed speculatively by Bericote and funded by Rockspring. 

The team has also recently acquired a prime trade counter unit in the Thames Valley, let to Jewson’s with 14.5 years remaining on the lease. The transaction was agreed on behalf of CBRE Global Investors at a price of £8.77m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.15%. 

In a third deal underlining the investment market’s resilience, three units have been acquired on the Chandler's Ford Industrial Estate on behalf of a local property company at a price of £3.3m, reflecting a net initial yield of 7%.

Jerry Vigus, director of capital markets for LSH, commented: “These recent deals highlight the encouraging level of activity being experienced by the prime industrial/warehouse market. Investors, both institutional and local authority, are still looking to acquire prime assets which are let to strong covenants, reflecting that this market sector has seen little impact and is enjoying continued occupier demand.  

"There are also still a number of institutions and property companies looking to invest in secondary and tertiary assets, where they believe they can add value because of the lack of supply of existing industrial/warehouse units.”