Our Case Studies

CHARTER WALK SHOPPING CENTRE, BURNLEY

Charter Walk Shopping Centre comprises of 358,700 sq. ft of retail accommodation and was acquired in partnership with a fund managed by Tristan Capital Partners in 2011 and has subsequently been sold to Burnley Borough Council in 2021.

During the decade of ownership and despite the significant headwinds of competition from online retailing and contracting retailer demand, Charter Walk has remained remarkably resilient under our management.

We redesigned and redeveloped part of the Market Square to provide modern retail accommodation, now occupied by River Island, The Entertainer and Tessuti.

We upsized Next into a 35,500 sq. ft department store and brought Primark into the town for a new 43,000 sq. ft store which involved the relocation of Wilko to elsewhere in the centre.

The centre continues to maintain relatively high levels of occupancy meeting retailer demand.

111 HIGH STREET, CHELTENHAM

A retail block adjacent to the new John Lewis in Cheltenham city centre acquired as part of a portfolio.

We re-purposed a 20,000 sq. ft three storey retail building into contemporary ground floor only retail with offices on the floors above overlooking a new internal atrium courtyard.

We let half of the ground floor retail space to Tesco in December 2020 and the first-floor offices to Just Go Travel at rents over £25psf.

Cheltenham is a thriving historic spa town with mixed land use values supporting investment and development.

FORMER M&S PREMISES - THE HARVEY SHOPPING CENTRE, HARLOW

35,000 sq. ft standalone retail store located at the main entrance to the Harvey Centre acquired from Marks & Spencer plc.

When M&S decided to close its store in Harlow it could have had major repercussions for the Harvey Centre, despite the store not having had any investment for many years. With our partners, we purchased the long leasehold interest and undertook a comprehensive refurbishment to the block, adding windows at first and second floor levels. We divided the ground floor into 9 units which have been let to tenants including Holland & Barrett, Nationwide Building Society, F Hinds and Starbucks.

UNION SQUARE SHOPPING CENTRE, UNION STREET, TORQUAY

Freehold shopping centre of c.117,000 sq. ft acquired in a mixed-use portfolio.

We have managed this discount retail centre since 2014. The Shopping Centre is a single storey scheme which has remained resilient through the pandemic with a strong core of “essential retailers” who remained open including Wilko, Iceland and Savers.

During our management we have rebranded the scheme, replaced outdated signage and brought in new tenants including The Entertainer, Greggs and most recently, Poundstretcher.

Union Square continues to maintain its position as the main discount retail centre in the town.

PRINCESS HOUSE, SHREWSBURY

Retail and office building in the city centre bought as part of a portfolio with investor partner Sculptor. We achieved new retail lettings to Cote and the Job Centre.

Office leases were regeared with the MoD and the DWP, and the investment was sold to a private investor for in excess of £12,000,000 and a yield of 6.15%.

CINEWORLD, THE HARVEY SHOPPING CENTRE, HARLOW

The Harvey Centre comprises circa 300,000 sq. ft of retail floorspace which is anchored by Tesco, Primark and Wilko.

The centre comprises two storeys. With the first-floor retail struggling, we redeveloped a vacant food store into a cinema with restaurants. This involved undertaking a detailed feasibility study and viability, before drawing up a scheme and obtaining planning.

We pre-let the 6-screen cinema to Cineworld, which has provided a leisure anchor and added vitality to the first floor.

WATERSIDE APARTMENTS, LEEDS

We acquired Waterside, Leeds in partnership with Carval Investors European Real Estate Fund II for £16.3m.

The property comprises two residential apartment blocks of 183 one, two and three bedroom apartments.

The property was fully occupied at acquisition. We carried out essential repairs to the roof and other elements of the structure and made improvements to the entrance halls and common parts. We simplified the management and letting strategy for the building. During our ownership the rental values increased by more than 30%. The property was sold to an institutional purchaser for £25.5m.

VELOCITY VILLAGE, SHEFFIELD

We acquired Velocity Village in Sheffield city centre for £36.75m in partnership with funds managed by Europa.

The Village includes 40,000 sq. ft of offices and 371 apartments arranged around 3 courtyards let to a mixture of students and professional tenants.

We sold off the individual apartments in the non-core residential blocks and the offices and we re-positioned the tenant mix in the core residential blocks which now comprise of 293 PRS units, in line with a refurbishment programme. The scheme is managed for rental growth.

HEADINGLEY PARK, LEEDS

We acquired Headingley Office Park as part of a large mixed-use portfolio. The Park comprised 121,000 sq. ft of offices in five buildings on a 5.5-acre site with mature landscaping.

We obtained permitted development rights and have converted four of the buildings to create 152 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments. We have also created a residents’ lounge, co-working space and reception on the ground floor of one of the buildings and continue to invest in on-site amenities.

Vacant possession of the remaining office building is due in 2023 and we have obtained permitted development rights to convert this into another 70 apartments.

The estate is managed by AddLiving.

LONDON ESTATES

In partnership with BauMont Real Estate Capital we have acquired a residential portfolio in Greater London altogether totalling 500 houses and apartments and costing around £137 million.

The properties, mostly Victorian and Edwardian stock let on ASTs, are in zones 3-6 with clusters in Croydon, Crystal Palace, Walthamstow, Barking, Leyton. The strategy is to acquire affordable stock in bulk and actively manage and modernise the individual properties across the estate to create capital and rental growth in gentrifying outer London markets.

AddLiving is providing property management of the residential estate.

LAKENHEATH, SUFFOLK

We acquired, in partnership with funds managed by Europa Capital, 474 houses on a married quarters estate in Lakenheath, Suffolk for £53m.

At the time of purchase the two-, three- and four-bedroom houses were let to the United States Air Force (USAF) for a further five years. The lease provided for USAF to hand back around 100 units each year for the remainder of the term.

As the houses were handed back, we implemented a strategy of refurbishment, sales and lettings. We completed the sale of all the houses, principally to owner occupiers.

We generated significant rental and capital growth during our ownership from the houses which were refurbished and modernised.

ONE LAMPTON, HOUNSLOW

We acquired One Lampton Road in Hounslow in 2018 for £21.5 million in joint venture with funds managed by Europa. The 122,000 sq. ft mixed use property comprised office and retail space with permitted development rights to create 115 residential units.

We redeveloped the block to create 118 new residential homes as studio, one and two-bedroom apartments. The apartments are generously sized, benefitting from large windows and lots of light. There is also a fun and spacious reception and co-working area.

We marketed the scheme to young professionals attracted by the buzz and convenience of West London, but also the flexibility of renting in a high-quality rental scheme with on-site management and maintenance. Despite initially marketing the scheme in the pandemic, we let around 5 units per week. The block is now fully let.

HARMSWORTH HOUSE, BOUVERIE STREET, LONDON EC4

The property is multi-let and provides 62,000 sq ft of office accommodation. The building was fully let at purchase with rents averaging £27.00 per sq ft compared to an estimated rental value of circa £40.00 per sq ft.

The building is held on a long lease with 62 years unexpired at a rent of £296,000 per annum. The occupational leases expire in 2020.

Addington agreed new leases on the 4th & 6th floors at £45.00 per sq ft. The 1st floor tenant had agreed terms to assign its lease to another party. Addington stepped in to take a surrender of this lease to enable a refurbishment of the floor to take place and to drive rents forward. We also carried out a cosmetic refurbishment of the entrance hall.

At the same time, Addington worked with architects to prepare a massing study to show that the site could support a new building of approximately 106,000 sq ft net. The building was sold subject to the existing leases for £28,200,000 representing a yield of 6.25%.

6 DOWGATE HILL, LONDON EC4

The property was acquired with vacant possession and refurbished to a high standard including a new lift, air conditioning, ceilings and lighting, wc’s and redecorated throughout.

Addington negotiated a new 150 year lease from the Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers at 10% of the net income, subject to a minimum of 5% of the open market rental value of the premises.

6 Dowgate Hill has been let to 4 office tenants and a dental practice with a weighted unexpired term of 9.9 years to lease expiries and 6.8 years to lease breaks at an office rent of around £70 per sq. ft.

The property has been sold for £16,850,000, a net initial yield of sub 5.00%.

10, FLEET PLACE, LONDON EC4

The property comprises of 185,000 sq ft of high quality air conditioned offices completed in 1991.

10, Fleet place is multi-let and we have been instigating a programme of rent reviews and lease renewals or re-gears to protect and enhance rental and capital values.

The reception has been remodelled included the commissioning of a unique art installation on the feature wall together with new contemporary furniture and lighting.

In 2021, Addington completed a multi phase remodelling which included providing end of trip facilities; showers, changing facilities and bike storage. This included charging points for bikes and cars.

Addington has been leading the initiative to improve the ESG credentials of 10, Fleet Place including upgrading both central plant and on floor M & E to secure an EPC B on floor and for the building as a whole. This has resulted in lettings in 2022 to Interpath and Hogan Lovells on newly refurbished space with a further floor about to be refurbished to the same high standard.

CAREW HOUSE, WALLINGTON, SURREY

Carew House is located, adjacent to Wallington railway station, between Croydon and Sutton, and provides 46,000 sq ft of air conditioned offices.

At acquisition, Homebase was holding over on two floors and the remainder of the building was vacant. We renewed the leases to Homebase on a short term basis and have completed lettings to an NHS Trust and the DWP for a Job Centre. We are currently refurbishing one of the Homebase floors and will offer this to the market in Q2 2019.

50, BANK STREET E14

A high quality air conditioned office building of 215,000 sq ft completed in 2002 in the heart of the Canary Wharf estate.

The principal tenant is The Northern Trust Company, AA rated by Standard & Poor’s on a lease which was due to expire in March 2022.

In Q1 2020, we concluded a regear of the Northern Trust lease with new long term leases, alongside a substantial refurbishment of the property, including lifts, central plant and reception and entrance hall to provide modern refurbished offices. The refurbishment included new bike storage, showers and changing facilities.

AIRESIDE HOUSE, AIRE STREET, LEEDS

Aireside House was purchased as part of a portfolio. The building provides 9,300 sq ft of offices on ground and three upper floors.

The vacant floors have undergone a comprehensive refurbishment to provide air conditioned offices with new windows created overlooking the river and exposed brickwork. The newly refurbished suites will appeal to small businesses from the tech and professional sectors.

Retail & Leisure

Residential

Offices

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE

READ MORE