Barwood Capital purchased the vacant warehouse at 15-16 Hickman Avenue, Highams Park, London, E4 in September 2014, and let the property to Proportion London Ltd, the leading UK supplier for display mannequins and bust forms, for 15 years at a rent of £346,000 per annum, which equates to £6.00 per sq ft. Barwood Capital completed a comprehensive refurbishment, and then subsequently sold the property to Irish Life.
Edward Henson, director, Barwood Capital commented: “Within one year we are delighted to have delivered such a rapid profit for our investors from the sale of Highams Park. Barwood Capital continues to seek well located assets with lot sizes between £3 million and £25 million, taking advantage of the current positive arbitrage between primary and secondary assets. As demonstrated with Highams Park our intention is to improve and reposition such assets through investment and expertise.”
Michael White, property investment director at Canada Life Investments said: “We are pleased to have completed this acquisition on behalf of the Irish Life UK Property Fund. The asset offers long term income within a market segment, Greater London Industrial, where we believe the prospects for future rental growth are good.”
Barwood’s 2012 growth fund is fully invested in eight sites, which range from planning gain opportunities to income producing sites with refurbishment and asset management potential. Barwood’s 2015 growth fund recently closed with the ability to secure more than £100m of commercial and residential property assets.
Canada Life Investments and Cushman & Wakefield acted for Irish Life. BNP Paribas acted for Barwood Capital.