St Modwen speculatively developed two warehouse units on its site within Barton Business Park on the A38. Unit C1 was sold in 2009 but Unit C2 was struggling to attract serious interest due to the poor economic conditions.

We provided marketing advice and a proposed disposal strategy, and were subsequently appointed as joint agents.

Swift deal resulted in reduced holding costs

The brief was to achieve a letting or sale as soon as possible in order to mitigate ongoing holding costs since practical completion of the building. We brokered a deal for a lease with an option to purchase within five months of receipt of instructions (industry average at the point of disposal was 12 months).

Unrivalled advice

Our teams in Birmingham and Nottingham worked in tandem throughout the course of the instruction. This provided the client with an unrivalled level of service and also a wider exposure to enquiries in the local and regional markets.

Maximising value for the client

Despite difficult market conditions, we were able to agree a ten year lease with Simarco with an option to purchase within the first two years of the term. A strong headline rent of £4.75 sq ft was achieved and an option to purchase at £1.6m. A rent penalty of three months was also agreed in the event that Simarco chose to exercise an option to determine the lease at the end of the third year.