JR Capital and Chancerygate’s £100m multi-let industrial property investment fund has acquired a further two assets in Birkenhead, Merseyside, and Cardiff for a total of £6.9m.
Commerce Trade Park in Birkenhead is a 40,004 sq ft scheme which has been acquired from investment and property management company, London & Cambridge Properties (LCP) for £3.45m.
Comprising 14 trade counter, office and industrial units, the trade park is prominently situated on the A41, approximately one mile south of the town centre and within the Wirral’s dominant trade counter location.
Anchor tenants on the scheme include construction materials supplier, Saint Gobain Building Distribution; tools, accessories and building supplies specialist, Toolstation; and kitchens and joinery specialist, Benchmarx.
West Point Industrial Estate, Cardiff, a nine unit scheme totalling 33,977 sq ft has also been acquired by the fund from commercial property management, development and investment company, Telereal Trillium for £3.45m.
The units are located within three miles of Cardiff city centre and are prominently situated on Penarth Road, the main arterial route into Cardiff from the west of the city centre. Current occupiers of the units include out of home advertising specialist, Clear Channel UK; same day courier, CitySprint; and trade electrical products manufacturer, PremSpec Electrical Products.
The two purchases by the fund bring its total investments to £32m comprising over 400,000 sq ft of industrial space. Other properties managed by the fund include Brunswick Park near Newcastle airport; Sandbeds Trading Estate in Ossett, West Yorkshire; Wollaston Industrial Park near Wellingborough and a portfolio of five assets near Northampton town centre.
JR Capital head of investments, Michael Ferris, said: “We are delighted to have completed these off-market transactions prior to the year end and they are both welcome additions to the fund.
“The multi-let industrial sector has proven to be very resilient during the lockdowns and despite the wider economic uncertainty, we remain bullish on the outlook for this sector. We have deployed cautiously over the past 12 to 18 months since launching the fund and plan to be active next year.”
The fund has a further £68m to spend over the next 12 months and intends to raise further capital. It is targeting multi-let industrial investments across the UK in lot sizes of £3m to £15m.
Chancerygate head of asset management, Rory Finnan, added: “Our two latest acquisitions significantly strengthen the fund, as well as enhancing its geographical profile.
“Both properties are situated in prominent locations where demand remains consistently strong. We’re confident that these two acquisitions will act as a catalyst for further growth of the fund.”
London-based JR Capital is a FCA-registered multi-family office business with a focus on real estate. It provides a platform for its Middle East-based private and institutional clients to co-invest into both the UK and European real estate markets. Founded in 2005 by John Collier-Wright, it has concluded over £2bn of transactions across all sectors.
Chancerygate is the UK’s largest multi-unit industrial developer and asset manager and the only one operating nationwide with offices in London, Warrington, Birmingham and Milton Keynes. Its asset management team currently manages £220m of assets across 4.9m sq ft of commercial space in more than 350 units.
On the Commerce Park acquisition, B8 Real Estate acted on behalf of Chancerygate and JR Capital, while Mason Partners LLP acted for LCP. Knight Frank acted on behalf of Chancerygate and JR Capital on the purchase of the Cardiff property, while Cooke & Arkwright acted for Telereal Trillium.
