Reading: Atlantic House is new police HQ after sale by Clearbell

Clearbell Property Partners, a fund managed by Clearbell Capital, has exchanged to sell Atlantic House, Reading, for £8.25 million for a new police headquarters.

Atlantic House, a 38,577 sq ft office building in Reading, was acquired by Clearbell in May 2015. The site is located on the outskirts of Reading, close to Junction 11 of the M4 motorway.

Clearbell acquired the asset with plans to let vacant space to increase rental income, taking advantage of the supply-constrained market in the South East.

Thames Valley Police has been operating from its existing police station in the centre of Reading for 40 years. It has been seeking a new area headquarters for Reading since 2012 due to the deterioration of the existing building, which has become expensive to run and is much larger than needed for modern policing requirements.

Duncan Jarvis, director at Clearbell Capital, said: “Atlantic House offers improved accessibility and parking for the Thames Valley Police and is an ideal new area headquarters located opposite the new retail and leisure Reading Gateway site and close to Junction 11 of the M4.”

Anthony Stansfeld, police and crime commissioner for Thames Valley, said: "I am pleased to have secured a new area headquarters in Reading. The search for a property that meets Thames Valley Police’s needs has been ongoing over a number of years so it is good news to have exchanged contracts on Atlantic House. The move to a new location has become a necessity as the existing building is no longer fit for purpose and costly to maintain.”

Clearbell was advised by Parkinson Holt. The Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley was advised by LSH.

Source: CoStar