Knight Property Group have added to their Edinburgh portfolio with the purchase of 4-5 Lochside Avenue in the city’s popular ‘Edinburgh Park’.
The property was purchased from a pension fund client of LaSalle Investment Management. The current lease ends in February 2020 and Knight Property Group intend to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment, with a view to offer space back to the market for letting in early 2021.
The property is situated in Edinburgh Park, a premier business park situated West of the city of Edinburgh. Home to over 7,000 employees, surrounding occupiers include JP Morgan, Regus, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland. The park benefits from several local amenities including close proximity to The Gyle Shopping Centre and Hermiston Gait Retail Park.
Royal Bank of Scotland provided Knight Property Group with a funding package for the purchase of the property. Jamie Drummond, Real Estate Finance Director at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “We work very closely with the team at Knight to understand their business and support their plans, so it has been really rewarding to see this deal now conclude. The team at RBS had the expertise to understand Knight’s requirements and provide a high level of market insight, as well as financial support, and we look forward to seeing the company grow as one of the leading commercial property developers in the market.”
The well positioned office pavilion provides 40,992sq. ft of open plan office space and upon completion of the refurbishment, will deliver tenants with a contemporary and modern working environment. The office space will be an attractive prospect for many companies due to its close proximity to Edinburgh International Airport, Edinburgh City Bypass, Edinburgh Park railway station and tram lines.
Over recent months, Knight have been active in the market and aside new speculative office developments in Aberdeen, they have recently purchased property on Edinburgh’s Fredrick Street along with two adjoining properties at 67 & 69 George Street in Edinburgh also.
Howard Crawshaw, Director of Knight Property Group commented, “We are excited about the acquisition of this property and delighted to have acquired what we believe is one of the strongest properties in Edinburgh Park given its configuration and location adjacent to the tram stop and other amenities.
We intend to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment to the property and reposition what is currently a tired asset while incorporating all the modern functions and facilities that businesses and employees would expect in the current climate.
Funding was provided by RBS Real Estate Finance Scotland and once again the team at RBS quickly understood the project and demonstrated a high level of market insight. They were able to put our funding in place at considerable pace whilst remaining highly professional at all times.”