Southampton: RO acquires 1 Dorset Street in £5.2m deal

RO Real Estate has completed the purchase of 1 Dorset Street in Southampton from Aberdeen Standard Investments for £5.2 million. This brings RO’s total of sales and acquisitions to in excess of £60m over the past 15 months.

This is the third major acquisition the RO has made in Southampton, bringing its total investment in the City to over £16m, following the purchase last year of Waterside Place, located on the marina and a short walk from West Quay, acquired for £7.6m; and West Park House which the RO purchased from Lanyon Quay for £4m in April. All acquisitions were made through the RO’s wholly-owned subsidiary RO Real Estate, which acquires and develops commercial property assets on behalf of the Group.

1 Dorset Street is a prominently located and prestigious office building within central Southampton. The property was constructed in 2006, which makes it one of the newest office buildings in a City with diminishing levels of Grade A supply.  The property is located in the established central business district, within close proximity of both the prime retail shopping area of West Quay and half a mile from the station.

RO intends to extensively refurbish the ground, first and second floors over the coming months, following vacation by Grant Thornton, while the remaining third floor is shared by Santander and Michael Page.

RO was advised by Acre Capital Real Estate which managed to secure the property off-market.  This property is complementary to RO’s existing assets in the City and consolidates its investment in the Southampton office market.

Commenting on the acquisition David Kershaw, general manager, RO Real Estate said: “Southampton shows a high demand for well-located, high quality office space coupled with very low availability and the RO hopes that this property will fill the gap in this important shortage of high-end office space. We will be improving the vacant space within this modern building and look forward to welcoming new tenants to this prominent and desirable location.”