An industrial unit at a popular Leicester business park has been sold after a bidding war involving several potential purchasers.

Swan House, a 9,270 sq ft unit on Meridian Business Park adjacent to J21 M1/M69, was sold to Leicester-based property company Hammond Grange Ltd for an undisclosed sum after it attracted over 10 bids.
 
LSH acted as sole selling agents for the Swan House owner, who has relocated to larger premises at the same business park.
 
Geoff Gibson, Head of Office at LSH in Leicester, said the high level of interest in the building demonstrated the dearth of good quality new and second-hand properties of all sizes in Leicestershire.
 
“There is a real lack of industrial stock at the moment, especially for good quality units of between 10,000 sq ft and 50,000 sq ft, so it was no surprise that the demand and sale price for Swan House was very good indeed,” he said.
 
“Over the past few months we have been inundated with enquiries from businesses primarily looking for freehold units, yet there is very little in the new or second-hand market in this area.
 
“Leicester would definitely benefit from speculative development and whilst there has been some development of smaller premises mainly in the county there has been very little in Leicester itself. However, the signs are now positive and we expect to see speculative development within the next 12-18 months”

Increasing competition for second-hand industrial units

The improving state of the economy has resulted in increasing competition for second-hand industrial units and the differentiation in cost compared to new build is narrowing.
 
Typical new build premises would command at least £85.00 per sq ft, while good well located second-hand units are now reaching a similar figure.
 
Swan House is a detached building on a private cul-de-sac within a 0.71-acre site. It has six-metre eaves and includes 2,285 sq ft of offices on the ground the first floors.
 
The new owner will benefit from rental from an Everything Everywhere Ltd mast, which is towards the rear of the property. Although the majority of interest was from owner-occupiers, the eventual buyer is a property investment company which intends to lease out the building, added Geoff.