Lothbury Investment Management, on behalf of Lothbury Property Trust, has concluded a trio of key lettings at Auriol Drive in Greenford, West London.
Practical completion has been achieved on a new 40,000 sq ft distribution unit, pre-let to Royal Mail on a 15-year lease without break, which is to be used as a postal sorting base.
The building is partially powered by photovoltaic panels and is set to achieve a BREEAM rating of ’Excellent’. Lothbury’s Active (development) team delivered the project, with Morgan Sindall as contractors.
Major national tyre distributor, Micheldever Tyres, has taken a 15 year lease on a 61,000 sq ft warehouse unit, also on Auriol Drive and previously occupied by furniture designer, Bentley Designs, at a rent of £13.85 per sq ft with rent reviews to the higher of open market value or RPI-linked reviews.
A further letting was agreed with Palletways, Europe’s largest provider of express pallet delivery services, for a further 29,000 sq ft of space adjacent to their existing unit which they have occupied since 2010. This brings Palletways’ total demise to 113,000 sq ft. The additional space was extensively refurbished by Lothbury’s Active team prior to Palletways taking occupation.
Mike Toft, Senior Fund Manager and Executive Director of Lothbury Investment Management, said: “This asset has performed extremely well for the Fund over 2017 and looks set to continue to contribute with further strong returns forecast for London industrial. We are delighted that Royal Mail chose to locate their new distribution centre on the site. This will become one of Royal Mail’s most important hubs in London.
“The two existing units were let extremely quickly, one to an existing occupier and one to a new occupier, both with excellent covenants. Rents for good quality industrial units in London are rising very quickly and both of these lettings realise performance for the fund and provide strong rental growth prospects.”
Lothbury’s holding in Auriol Drive, Greenford also includes a 115,000 sq ft unit let to Tesco, one of their first online fulfilment centres (‘dark stores’) in the UK, which was developed by Lothbury’s Active team in 2010.
For the Royal Mail letting, Lothbury Investment Management were represented by JLL and Lambert Smith Hampton; Carter Jonas acted for Royal Mail.
For the Palletways letting, Lothbury Investment Management acted directly with the tenant; 3PL Real Estate acted for Palletways.
For the Micheldever Tyres letting, Lothbury Investment Management were represented by Savills and Cogent.
