Barwood Capital, the Northampton-based real estate investment and development business, has sold Woodlands Business Park in Milton Keynes to clients of Mutual Finance Limited, for £12.5 million representing a net initial yield of 7.5%.
Woodlands Business Park is a 12.5 acre site with 77,750 sq ft of office accommodation across seven buildings located at Linford Wood, MK14, one mile north of central Milton Keynes.
Barwood Capital acquired Woodlands off market from receivers in October 2015 through its 2015 Property Fund.
Since then it has undertaken a number of asset management activities including designing a new masterplan with planning consent for 150,000 sq ft of new Grade A offices, a successful letting programme, and modernisation of the park with extensive improvements to the estate roads and landscaping. Since 2015, the vacancy rate has reduced from 30% to 7%.
Andrew Barlow, director, Barwood Capital said: “Two years ago we saw the potential in Woodlands Business Park which provided opportunities for active asset management, planning and development to attract businesses to this great location in Milton Keynes. We are delighted that our investment and vision has resulted in providing a platform for future growth and returning funds to our 2015 Property Fund investors.”
Raed Hanna, director, Mutual Finance said: “Woodlands provides great prospects for income growth and ongoing development in one of Milton Keynes’ best office parks. We are excited about our plans for the future to attract businesses to this excellent location in the UK’s fastest growing city”.
Occupiers include: Nexus Business Solutions, Leica Microsystems, Ipsos Retail Performance, Worksmart Solutions, YourCash and the Mears Group.
Cyril Leonard represented Barwood Capital.