AEW UK REIT has bought a freehold, mixed-use asset in York city centre for more than £10m.
The 99,769 sq ft asset is multi-let to five tenants. 75% of the income is received from National Car Parks Ltd (NCP), who have occupied the 297-space car park since 2005 and have a further nine years remaining on their lease.
NCP is one of the UK’s largest car park operators with an estate of approximately 189,000 spaces over 642 sites. The company is owned by Park24, a Japanese based multi-national parking operator, and the Development Bank of Japan.
Another four tenants occupy the ground and first floor retail and office accommodation fronting onto George Hudson Street.
The site totals 0.8 acres and is located inside the York City Wall, bordering the historic centre of the city, within the Micklegate Quarter. It is situated in a prominent corner position on George Hudson Street and Tanner Row, within a 10-minute walk of key visitor attractions, including York Minster, the Yorkshire Museum and the York Dungeon.
York’s key retail provisions at Coppergate Shopping Centre, Coney Street, Davygate and Parliament Street are all within a 7-minute walk.
Laura Elkin, portfolio manager of AEW UK REIT, said: “We are pleased to have purchased this very well-located mixed-use asset at a day one yield that will be accretive to the company’s earnings. Our due diligence has shown that NCP trades well from the location and we expect this to continue given the popularity of York as a destination.
“Completion of the acquisition marks the strategic reinvestment into higher yielding assets of capital generated from recent sales. We continue to analyse an interesting pipeline of potential acquisitions and expect to make further purchase announcements in due course, which will bring us closer to our short-term target of full deployment of capital.”
