REI snaps up prime Colmore Row site
Birmingham-based Real Estate Investors (REI) has snapped up a large piece of prime Colmore Row property in the heart of the city’s professional quarter.
REI, headed up by Paul Bassi, has paid £4.5 million in cash for 75-77 Colmore Row, which has 18,676 sq ft of recently refurbished office space behind a Grade II listed façade.
The deal is the first landed since the appointment of REI’s new chairman John Crabtree, the former Wragge & Co senior partner, and non-executive director Will Wyatt.
The announcement is expected to be the first of a number to be made by REI.
The company has announced it is planning a major growth phase aimed at taking advantage of attractive opportunities likely to be thrown up in the post-recession shake-out of the property sector.
Less than a month ago, REI announced a spending target of £100 million over the next 12 months, subject to finding suitable properties that met its purchase criteria.
The centrally located 75-77 Colmore Row is the first major deal the AIM-listed company has completed so far.
The five floor building is currently let in its entirety to finance group PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has three-and-a-half years of a 25-year lease still to run.
Rental is currently £20.88 per sq ft and there are 11 secure parking spaces attracting rental of £2,000 each per annum.
REI chief executive Paul Bassi said the building occupied a key place in Birmingham.
He said: “75-77 Colmore Row is right at the epicentre of the Birmingham professional quarter.
“It is a quality building that has recently been refurbished and offers modern office accommodation behind a historic façade.”
REI has bought the building from PI Consulting (Trustee Services). Agents Jones Lang LaSalle in Birmingham and Howlings Hodgson of Manchester provided advice on the sale.
Law firm Challinors acted for REI and the vendors were represented by Pinsent Masons.
Mr Bassi added: “We remain committed to acquiring quality assets in the Midlands and establishing one of the region’s premier property companies.
“REI recently moved its headquarters from West Bromwichinto the city at Cathedral Place in Waterloo Street just yards from our new acquisition.
“We are still in the market for prime Midland residential and commercial property and we hope to make further announcements in the early autumn.”
REI’s results for 2009, released earlier this year, showed a dramatic return to better times as the recession latterly eased its grip – a profit before tax of £4.3 million.
The business has a net asset value of £40 million, with £20 million in cash.
In addition to Cathedral Place has a number of well-known properties around the city centre, including 102-106 Colmore Row, opposite the new British Landoffice scheme, York House on Great Charles Street, and Latitude, the unbroken retail parade near the Hippodrome.
