RO COMPLETES NEW LETTINGS AT STAINES OFFICE BUILDING

28/11/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed two new lettings, totalling circa 3,000 sq ft of space at Staines One in Staines-upon Thames, Surrey.

ASG Software Solutions has taken 2,764 sq ft on the second floor of the building, on a 5 year lease ata rent of £76,010 (£27.50 psf) with half-rent in the first 2 years.

United Closures and Plastics Limited (UCP) has taken a further 192 sq ft of space on the ground floor and it has signed a new reversionary lease on the existing 630 sq ft from December 2015, both at a rent of £27.50 psf.

Staines One is a three storey self-contained office building, with 8,095 sq ft of air-conditioned office space and secure parking for up to 33 cars. It is conveniently located near the station which provides just a 35 minute service direct to London Waterloo Station. RO Real Estate refurbished the building in 2009 and since then Staines One has always let well. There is currently only 336 sq ft available.

Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “These new lettings are testament to the quality of the building as we continue to retain tenants at Staines One. This positive result is in line with our strategy of buying well located assets which will let well and can be improved through active asset management.”

New Ballerino acted for RO, while Dixon Wright acted for ASG Software Solutions. UCP were unrepresented.

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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

RO SELLS HEMEL ONE OFFICE BUILDING TO THREADNEEDLE

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

RICHARD'S VIEW

03/11/14

WHAT MAKES A SERVICE STATION AN ATTRACTIVE ACQUISITION?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To the general public a petrol filling station is not a particularly interesting acquisition, but to the canny property investor it can offer a lot more than the eye can see.

A service station in the right location and let on a strong covenant provides a strong investment and can provide the potential for adding value and planning an alternative, higher-value use in the future.

As an example, RO Real Estate has just acquired Westacre Services, an Esso petrol filling station and convenience store on the A36, which is one of the major routes in and out of Salisbury towards Wilton and the A303.

Whenever we look to make an acquisition we focus on two things: is the asset in a strong location and does it offer covenant strength?

Westacre ticks both boxes, but it also offers a lot more. The property is currently let to Flying Visit Limited on a 15 year lease at a rent of £150,705 a year, providing a net initial yield of 7.46% after costs.

However, we discovered that there are a number of fuel sale and retail operators, that are keen to secure a position on the prominent site. In addition, the site also has excellent prospects for residential conversion in the longer term. This creates for us strong long-term income with the potential to add significant value.

We look at the end potential of every asset, and a service station is definitely one which has much more to offer than initially meets the eye.

RO ACQUIRES OFFICE BUILDING IN CAMBRIDGE

20/10/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed the acquisition of Discovery House, a 9,094 sq ft office building in Cambridge, for £2.85 million from Turnstone Estates.

Discovery House is located on Vision Park which is conveniently situated approximately three miles north of Cambridge city centre in the affluent village of Histon. Vision Park is a popular and established business park benefitting from close proximity to road and rail transportation links which further offer direct lines to Kings Cross and Liverpool Street.

The property is currently let to Internet Watch Foundation Limited on a 10 year lease (from 12 May 2014) at a rent of £203,625 a year, providing a net initial yield of 6.75% after purchaser costs.

This purchase is part of RO’s acquisition programme to invest in core income and value-add opportunities in the South East of England. RO Real Estate still has a significant amount of cash remaining to reinvest on lot sizes between £2-5 million, which offer the opportunity to add value through active asset management.

Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “There is high demand for this type of quality office space in Cambridge and a lack of supply means that there is the potential for future rental growth which will provide long-term secure income for our portfolio”.

RO Real Estate was advised by Hoddel Stotesbury Morgan. The vendor was advised by Finn and Company.

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For further information:

Richard Bourne, RO Real Estate
020 7025 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

RO COMPLETES THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEMEL PARK

22/09/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed the sale of the last remaining plot at Hemel Park, Boundary Way, Hemel Hempstead.

RO has sold the 1.74 acre Plot 1 at Hemel Park for £1.6 million to Private One Stop Doctors Ltd, achieving close to £1 million per acre.

Private One Stop Doctors Ltd will construct a private medical facility on the site which will be in accordance with RO’s agreed design brief and specification.

This disposal follows the sale of Plot 2 to Imagination Technologies Ltd for £1,050,000 + VAT and the sale of Plot 3 to Trustees of DIME holdings retirement benefit scheme for £1,190,000 + VAT. These plots have been developed-out by owner occupiers for a data centre and trade only builder’s merchant.

Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “This disposal completes our interest in Hemel Park and demonstrates how popular this high-quality site has been with occupiers. We have achieved a strong return on our investment and it reiterates our ability to source assets in strong locations and to add value through asset management, refurbishment and development”.

RO Real Estate was unrepresented. Private One Stop Doctors Ltd was advised by Brasier Freeth.

RO Real Estate purchased the 7.5 acre Hemel Park estate in 2005 before purchasing an additional 1.5 acres from 3 Com in 2008. RO reconfigured the estate to provide four self-contained plots including the 100,000 sq ft Hemel One office building with parking for 465 cars and three self-contained plots of 1.74 acres, 1.8 acres and 1.4 acres.

RO Real Estate secured planning and produced a design brief and specification for each plot and unit to ensure consistency and a high quality of design throughout the park. RO Real Estate refurbished the 100,000 sq ft office building in 2005 and 2007 and has subsequently let the entire building to a variety of tenants including BP, Ericsson, K Com and NHS.

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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

RO ACQUIRES SALISBURY SERVICE STATION

11/09/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed the acquisition of Westacre Service Station in Salisbury, Wiltshire, for £1.9 million from Aureus Property Limited. 

Westacre Services is an Esso fuel filling station and convenience store located on the A36 Wilton Road, which is one of the major routes in and out of Salisbury towards Wilton and the A303. The property is currently let to Flying Visit Limited on a 15 year lease (from March 2010) at a rent of £150,705 per annum, providing a net initial yield of 7.46% after purchaser’s costs.

In addition there are a number of fuel sale and retail operators keen to secure the prominent site and it also has excellent prospects for residential conversion in the future.

This purchase is part of RO’s acquisition programme to invest in core income and value-add opportunities in the South of England. RO Real Estate will continue this programme throughout 2014 and still has a significant amount of cash to reinvest on lot sizes between £2-5 million, which offer the opportunity to add value through active asset management.

Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “This acquisition will help improve the quality and performance of our portfolio as the opportunity offers long term secure income in a strong location with future potential to add value”. 

RO Real Estate was advised by HSM Chartered Surveyors. Aureus Property Limited was advised by Barber Wadlow.  

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

BURTON PROPERTY HANDS OVER NEW AFFORDABLE HOMES IN GORING-BY-SEA

04/09/14

Affordable homes at the Aspects development next to Goring-by-Sea station have been formally handed over by developer Burton Property to Worthing Homes.

To mark the occasion, Duncan Jagger, chairman of Worthing Homes’ Development Working Party and Robin Roberts, property services director, met with Burton Property executives Tony Burton, managing director, and Andrew Sinclair, operations director, to view the new homes.

The 11 one and two-bedroom apartments are housed in two architecturally-striking buildings, which provide much needed homes for affordable rent for people in the local area; the first new tenants will move in during July.

Tony Burton said: “We’re very proud of Aspects and the rate at which the homes have sold; it’s a good looking, high quality mixed tenure development which is delivering homes both for sale and for rent. It’s important to us that the quality of the homes we build is consistent irrespective of tenure and that these new homes are now contributing to the affordable housing stock in Goring-by-Sea. I wish the new residents every happiness in their new homes.”

Robin Roberts added: “It has been a pleasure working with Burton Property on this development. We are pleased to have taken handover of these stunning new apartments, which I am sure our residents will be

delighted to call home.”

In addition to the affordable homes, 18 three and four-bedroom townhouses were offered for private sale at Aspects under the Government’s Help to Buy scheme. Released in the spring, these proved very popular and all have been reserved, with many already completed and occupied.

For further media information

Burton Property

Contact Debbie Valentine, Account Director, or Harriet Sandall, Account Executive, at Property House Marketing on 01483 561119 or email harriet@housegroup.co.uk.

Worthing Homes
Contact Suzanne Newman, Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator Worthing Homes, on 01903 703195 or email snewman@worthinghomes.org.uk

Notes to Editors

Burton Property
Burton Property is an experienced and highly respected property development specialist with a reputation for innovation, quality, strength and commitment.

It is led by Tony Burton, one of the industry’s most respected professionals with more than 30 years’ experience; he was a board member of Alfred McAlpine Homes and latterly with Linden Homes, before founding Burton Property in 2005.

Based in and with a focus on Hampshire and the adjoining counties, Burton Property stands for delivering high quality homes in desirable locations to exacting standards, with a portfolio ranging from starter homes for first time buyers to spacious family properties.
www.burtonproperty.co.uk

Worthing Homes
Worthing Homes provides homes for 10,000 customers in the Sussex coastal area through affordable rented homes, key worker accommodation, low cost shared ownership, sheltered housing and new homes as part of the Sappling Housing partnership.

We also provide additional services: RedAssure a telecare and personal response service; repairs and maintenance through Homespace and garden/grounds maintenance through Greenspace; and community activities through the Big Lottery Funded community house in East Worthing.

Worthing Homes is a member of PlaceShapers, a national alliance of almost 90 community-focused housing associations. We own and manage 675,000 homes and provide services to more than two million people. Find out more at;
www.placeshapers.org
www.worthing-homes.org.uk
www.Facebook.com/WorthingHomes