EG
20 JULY 2022
BDC jv hoists for sale sign over Finsbury Park station concourse
A retail parade and station concourse in Finsbury Park, N4, has been put up for sale by a joint venture between Business Design Centre Group and Telford Homes.
The developers have appointed Clifton to seek offers exceeding £65m for the 999-year long leasehold of the Zone 2 Underground and Overground concourse, which sits within the jv’s City North regeneration scheme.
A deal at this price would reflect a 4.24% net initial yield, assuming purchaser’s costs of 6.78%. It is also being marketed with the option to buy the freehold.
The retail parade and concourse consists of 100,000 sq ft of new mixed-use commercial space split across 11 spaces on the ground floor. This includes some 34,000 sq ft of office space, restaurants, a nine-screen cinema, a 21,000 sq ft gym and a supermarket. There is also scope to add mezzanine levels in future.
Tenants include IWG’s co-working brand Spaces, M&S Simply Food, Cineworld, Gymbox, Gail’s Bakery, Rosa’s Thai, Honest Burger and Tonkotsu. The parade has a WAULT of 15 years to expiry, with 12.1 years to break. It generates commercial income of more than £2.9m per annum, with retail rents averaging £70 per sq ft.
Above the concourse, the £220m City North development consists of four residential buildings with 355 flats. It is the largest regeneration project undertaken in Islington since Arsenal’s stadium regeneration.
The station is estimated to see 33.3m passenger journeys per year.
Ben Simpson, co-founder of Clifton, said: “The sale of City North represents a truly unique opportunity to own one of a very small number of purpose-built retail concourses on the London underground system.”
Jim Remfry, co-founder of Clifton, added: “Rents in comparable station concourses at Fulham Broadway Centre, Hammersmith (Broadway Centre), Clapham Junction (Shopstop), Kensington Arcade are significantly higher than the average rent at City North, implying truly exceptional growth prospects for investors.”
Clifton was formed in March this year by Simpson and Remfry, who previously led CWM’s investment business. The team at Clifton has since launched sales instructions in excess of £130m across all asset types, ranging from speculative land, multi-let urban logistics and town centre mixed-use schemes.