Allsop sells largest auction lot this year

A commercial property in the heart of London’ West End which is occupied by Pizza Express has been snapped up by a UK-based property investment company post-auction for £4.7m.

The seller, an overseas investor, acquired the property on Greek Street in Soho at auction in December 2006 off a rent of £98,625 at £2.375m and a yield of 3.9% with a longer lease.

With an unexpired term of just four years, the investor opted to sell the property on auction terms, with the new owner achieving a 3.5% net rental return.

George Walker, auctioneer and partner at Allsop, commented: “The appetite for high value lots in London is very strong and this sale continues the trend of investors trading to take profits in the room.”

This sale brings the March commercial auction total to £91.9m, with an overall success rate of almost 90%, and the running total for the calendar year to £153m.

Retail parades in London were as popular as ever at the auction, which took place on Monday 27th March at Claridge’s, while there was also high demand for the leisure sector.

Overall, A grade retail yields remained constant from the February at 5.6%, and B grade yields sharpened to 7.8% from 8.8%.

“Appetite from domestic and overseas private investor for well-let assets across all sectors was very strong and, with the Bank of England recently upgrading its economic forecasts, we see this demand continuing to strengthen,” Walker added.