INVESTMENT management company Colliers Capital has completed the acquisition of the Apex Park industrial estate in Leighton Buzzard.
The company has paid an undisclosed sum to London-based investment house Pears Property Advisors for the site, a new speculative development of 13 business units that are already fully occupied.
The deal comes only ten months after Apex Park was completed. The first of its kind in Leighton Buzzard for more than 20 years, the development answered huge pent-up demand from businesses for quality units in the region.
Pears Property Advisors investment director Ben Grosman said: “This is a well located, fully let industrial estate with a 3.25 per cent yield that should provide the buyer with excellent rental growth opportunities moving forward.”
Pears Property Advisors funded the development of Apex Park, with units ranging from 1,880 sq ft to 20,800 sq ft and totalling 57,100 sq ft. Property consultancy Kirkby Diamond acts on behalf of Pears Property and other third parties in relation to their UK commercial and residential investment portfolios and was joint agent on Apex Park with Milton Keynes-based Louch Shacklock.
Eamon Kennedy right, head of commercial agency at Kirkby Diamond, said: “Apex Park has been a fantastic success by any standards. Before Apex Park was completed, there had not been a development of high-quality industrial units in Leighton Buzzard for over 20 years and therefore there was significant pent-up demand. We are delighted to have achieved a wonderful result.”
Kirkby Diamond completed the letting on the last of the units to power protection specialists Levant UPS. The company signed a ten-year lease on a 5,320 sq ft unit on the estate.
Among the companies taking units at the development are Lang UK, global distributors of visual presentation technology, which has agreed a lease on an 8,110 sq ft unit, as has FAI Automotive, distributors of premium aftermarket automotive components.
Ram online Ltd, trading as Blue Box Self Storage, has taken a 5,200 sq ft unit and AIS Surveyors, a chartered surveying practice, has agreed a lease on a 5,200 sq ft unit. Units of 1,880 sq ft have been let to Heath Electrical, Universal Event Production, Stephen & Son, Diverse Flooring, and LTM Design.
Luke Tillison right, managing partner of Kirkby Diamond, has been involved with the development for more than five years. He acquired the land, including the site to the rear now known as Ascent Park, on behalf of Pears Property Advisors five years ago. The rear part of the site was sold to the Firethorn Trust and Apex Park was developed on the remaining section.
“It is very satisfying to see a scheme through from its grass roots all the way to becoming a thriving industrial estate,” he said. “Having purchased the land for Pears Property Advisors, witnessed the development of the industrial estate and completed the lettings of the units to now have completed disposal of the investment is an achievement of which the team at Kirkby Diamond is very proud.”
