17/11/14
RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed the sale of its 96,000 sq ft office building in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, to Threadneedle Investments for £17.75 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.75%.
Hemel One on Boundary Way is a grade A office building, comprising 96,000 sq ft of space over four floors. The building is fully let to a range of well-known companies, including Ericsson, Kcom and BP with an average weighted unexpired term of 5.4 years to expiries and 2.6 years to breaks.
Since acquiring the property in 2005 from 3Com, RO Real Estate has added significant value through a number of initiatives, including a comprehensive refurbishment, which have led to an increase in the headline rent from £12 per sq ft to £17 per sq ft. The property has delivered a net rental income of £1.46 million per annum.
Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “Hemel One has been a classic RO refurbishment and asset management play. We were able to refurbish the building, retain tenants and then lease the remainder of the space on traditional and innovative, semi-serviced office solutions.
“We are actively seeking similar value-add opportunities in the South East where our skill-set and experience will enable us to generate income and capital growth”.
Knight Frank acted for RO Real Estate, while Deloitte acted for Threadneedle.
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For further information:
Richard Bourne, RO Real Estate
0207 025 1780
Richard.Bourne@rogroup.co.uk
Faye Walters, Tavistock Communications
020 7920 3150
fwalters@tavistock.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
RO Real Estate is a privately-owned company specialising in commercial property investment and development in the south east. It is the property division of the RO Group, which has majority interests in businesses involved in residential development, high-quality holiday lodge developments, domiciliary and specialist care services and the development of utility-scale solar energy projects.
www.rogroup.co.uk
www.rorealestate.co.uk
