LondonMetric Property has announced the acquisition of Next’s Doncaster distribution warehouse for £29 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.3per cent. The off-market purchase, from a private property company, will be funded from London Metric’s existing resources.
Located two miles north west of Junction 38 of the A1 in South Elmsall Doncaster, the 330,000 sq ft warehouse was purpose built for the clothing retailer in 2005 and forms part of its logistics hub in the area, with a further three Next owner-occupied units on adjacent sites.
The warehouse incorporates 22,000 sq ft of office space and benefits from additional mezzanine floors, increasing the internal area to 725,000 sq ft. The total site area is 19 acres and the site cover is 40 per cent. The unit is let at a rent of £1.9 million a year, with an unexpired lease term of 9 years.
The acquisition bumps up LondonMetric’s distribution portfolio to 22 distribution centres totalling £656.6 million, representing 46.7% of the Group’s total portfolio. The distribution portfolio is fully let with an average unexpired lease term of 13.7 years.
Chief Executive of LondonMetric, Andrew Jones, said: “This is a highly automated warehouse which is let to a great tenant and is a strong addition to our distribution portfolio.
“It complements our ownership of the nearby Superdrug Distribution Centre and also increases our exposure to one of the UK’s top retailers with whom we already have an excellent relationship.”
The Company was advised by Savills and the vendor was advised by JLL.
