Acting on behalf of Marstons PLC, CBRE has sold Newcastle Quayside’s popular Pitcher & Piano restaurant and bar to Cordea Savills on behalf of a long standing Pension Fund client, who were represented by the Savills Leisure team, for £7.554M, representing a net initial yield of 4.35%.
CBRE secured the high profile deal just weeks after being instructed to market the property. The legal team representing Marstons was Shoosmiths LLP, while Ashurst acted for the purchaser.
The property, which occupies a coveted position fronting the River Tyne, is one of 18 UK Pitcher & Piano’s in Marston Group’s portfolio and generates an annual rental income of £350,000. Having undergone a major refurbishment in March 2013, the modern trading areas attract high levels of year-round footfall from the neighbouring attractions such as the Baltic and Sage, hotels and host of nearby commercial occupiers.
The property is let on a new 35 year lease to Marstons Estates Ltd with an annual rental income of £350,000.
Senior Director of CBRE’s National Specialist Markets team, Andrew Watt, said; “We are delighted with how quickly a sale was agreed and completed for our client. This high profile investment represented a superb opportunity for the purchaser to enhance their portfolio with a signature property with strong, long-term rental returns in an established leisure location.
”The transaction is representative of the growing buoyancy we are witnessing within the leisure investment market and is encouraging news as the whole of the property sector shows increasing signs of recovery.”
James Whidborne, Portfolio Manager at Cordea Savills commented; ‘The Pitcher and Piano on Newcastle Quayside is an iconic bar with exceptional trading figures and a strong residual value underpinned by its instantly recognisable location. We are delighted to have secured the purchase for this relatively new mandate targeting long index linked property in core locations. Since July 2013, we have committed £110 million of an £150 million allocation, through a mixture of standing investments and pre-let development opportunities across all sectors. The Pitcher & Piano is the perfect example of an investment that fulfils the brief. The Team did exceptionally well to complete the transaction is such a short timeframe.’
