Blythe Bridge, Stoke
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The Challenge
Cushman & Wakefield was appointed by Indesit to dispose of an 853,000 sq ft former vacant white goods manufacturing facility. Indesit held the unit by way of a 99 year lease from 1960 at a rent of £540,000pa which was also subject to a forthcoming rent review and a lease restriction to a B2 (manufacturing) consent. The unit was situated in a good location but was old, in need of extensive repairs and had a very low eaves height.
The Solution
C&W provided marketing advice and initiated a marketing campaign to endeavour to assign the remainder of Indesit’s leasehold liability which identified a number of interested parties. Much of the interest could not be progressed as it was from distribution occupiers (B8) and the unit had a manufacturing (B2) consent. C&W advised this should not be altered until after the rent review, as an open consent would add value and lead to a significant increase in the rental value. Prior to the rent review being implemented C&W identified an opportunity to sell the business unit (“Creda”) owned the lease, to a neighbouring manufacturing and distribution occupier. Following detailed negotiations the lease was sold to the neighbouring occupier’s parent company for a reverse premium. The reverse premium represented approximately 10% of Indesit’s remaining leasehold liability and was significantly less than the proposed surrender premium from the landlord.
The Results
Our realistic and innovative approach led to a highly successful campaign the highlights of which were:
Accurate initial market advice and assessment
Swift identification of an occupier
Innovative approach to disposal options
Negotiated exit costs significantly below clients assessment