32 Cathedral Road & 1 Sophia Close Cardiff Extended Period Offices in sought after location Single Let Office Investment
Investment considerations Prominent offices on the corner of Cathedral Road and Sophia Close Extended period building comprising 8,050 sq ft Freehold Let to the excellent covenant of Willmott Dixon Holdings Ltd until September 2017 1,100,000 reflecting a net initial yield of 7.73% 2 SWANSEA M4 27 24 M4 23 23A 1 Location Cardiff is the capital city and administrative centre for Wales and the home of the Welsh Assembly Government. It is also the principal commercial centre for the South Wales region. The city, the 10th largest in the UK has a estimated population of 320,000 with a catchment population closer to 1.1 million equating to nearly one third of the Welsh population. BRIDGEND 32 31 30 29 28 29A NEWPORT 24 M5 23 18 19 BRISTOL 17 21 16 20
Road The city benefits from excellent road communication links and can be accessed via five junctions of the M4 motorway (Junctions 29 33), providing direct access to London 150 miles (240 km) and Bristol, 43 miles (69 km) to the east, Swansea, 42 miles (72 km) to the west and Birmingham, 106 miles (171 km) to the north east. Air The city benefits from international communications with Cardiff International Airport providing regular scheduled flights to Amsterdam, Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Geneva, Malaga, Paris and Prague. Cardiff International Airport lies approximately 12 miles (19 km) to the south west of the city centre. The airport has seen tremendous growth with about 1.9 million business and leisure passengers handled annually. Rail Cardiff is well served by the national rail network with direct and frequent services to London Paddington, with a fastest journey time of approximately 2 hours. In addition, there is a local rail service which provides access to the Valleys (Caerphilly, Cwmbran, Pontypridd, Ebbw Vale and Merthyr Tydfil), Swansea and North Wales. The rail route between Cardiff and London Paddington is set to improve following Government plans to electrify the line at a cost of 1billion reducing journey times by 20 minutes. There are additional plans to link Cardiff directly with Heathrow airport. The plans will significantly improve journey times and reliability on the route, with direct access to Heathrow airport bringing considerable benefits. Cardiff has also bid for a high speed rail link to London which would reduce the journey time to 74 minutes. Economy Cardiff has a wide employment base reflecting its status as the capital city of Wales and a major regional centre. The majority of growth in the past decade has occurred in the financial and business services sector, with this sector accounting for 26.7% of jobs in Cardiff (Promis 2007). Cardiff benefits from a strong insurance presence with Legal & General, AA Insurance, Admiral and Zurich all major occupiers in the city. Cardiff is also home to multi-national banking firms including Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays Bank and ING together with a large number of utilities firms including British Telecom, British Gas (Centrica) and SWALEC. There is a large concentration of national government organizations in Cardiff, reflecting its status as the capital city of Wales. The National Assembly for Wales has significant presence at Cardiff Bay and additional departments (Department for Trade & Industry and the Welsh Assembly Government) are also major employers in the area. Whilst finance, public sector and utilities firms comprise the largest employers in the city, there are also a number of professional services firms, the largest of these include law firms Eversheds and Hugh James and global accounting firms PWC, Deloitte and KPMG. The large student population within the city is derived from the two prominent universities being Cardiff University, which has 28,000 students and UWIC with 11,000 students. Cardiff University is ranked 7th in the UK for research expertise and is now ranked as a Top 100 World University. Destination London Paddington Bristol Birmingham Manchester Swansea Journey Duration 120 minutes 35 minutes 120 minutes 183 minutes 55 minutes
Cardiff Office Market Cardiff is the principal office market within Wales, with an estimated office stock of approximately 10 million sq ft. Since the economic downturn, Cardiff s office market has performed better than many other regional cities with take up standing at 485,000 sq ft in 2011. This compares with a 12 year average take up of 247,000 sq ft per annum. Of the ten largest regional markets, only Birmingham and Manchester had higher levels of take up than Cardiff in 2011 and the annual total was ahead of Bristol s 425,000 sq ft. City centre Grade A space currently stands at just 50,000 sq ft and this lack of available new Grade A stock is anticipated to put pressure on the current headline rent of 21.00 per sq ft and in turn Grade B rents. The secondary office market is well positioned to take advantage of this restricted supply over the coming few years, especially when coupled with the resilient occupier demand. Cardiff continues to attract major interest for new space and demand currently stands at circa 275,000 sq ft including requirements from BBC Wales, Morgan Cole and Legal & General. Cardiff s headline rents are still at a significant discount in comparison to other prime rents, with the nearest significant regional cities Bristol and Birmingham currently standing at circa 27.50 per sq ft. Of the 10 biggest regional markets, only Newcastle and Nottingham have a lower headline rent, which is a major factor in attracting new occupiers to Cardiff. City centre locations have seen limited new office development in recent years with the exception of Driscoll Buildings (36,700 sq ft) and No1 Capital Quarter (77,000 sq ft). It is likely that completion levels will rise in the medium term, especially around Callaghan Square (MEPC) and Capital Quarter (JR Smart Ltd). Situation Cathedral Road is one of the main thoroughfares to the North West of the City and leads to Western Avenue and the A48M providing access to Junctions 29 and 30 of the M4 motorway. The property occupies a prominent location fronting Cathedral Road and Sophia Close, which itself leads into Sophia Gardens, home of the Welsh Institute of Sport and the SWALEC Stadium. Cathedral Road is a popular office location, an attractive tree lined street dominated by period office conversions and benefiting from close proximity to the city centre with access through Bute Park. A number of businesses have chosen to locate here including The Welsh Audit Office, Unite, Rombourne Serviced Offices, Francis and Buck, Apex Chambers and a Jolyon s Boutique Hotel. SWALEC STADIUM COWBRIDGE ROAD SOPHIA WALK A4161 WELLINGTON STREET BUTE PARK WELSH INSTITUTE OF SPORT SOPHIA CLOSE CATHEDRAL ROAD A4119 BUTE PARK COWBRIDGE ROAD BUTE PARK RIVER TAFF TUDOR STREET CASTLE STREET A470 NORTH ROAD MILLENNIUM STADIUM CROWN COURT CASTLE DUKE STREET WESTGATE STREET KINGSWAY WOOD STREET CATHAYS CITY HALL BOULEVARD DE NANTES ST MARY STREET CENTRAL NATIONAL MUSEUM PARK PLACE GREYFRIARS ROAD QUEENS ARCADE THE HAYES STUTTGARTER STRASSE QUEEN STREET ST DAVID S CHURCH PLACE DUMFRIES PLACE THE CAPITAL SHOPPING CENTRE CHURCHILL WAY BUTE TERRACE QUEEN STREET ADAM STREE HERBERT STREE
1-6 9 Description HOTEL 7 SOPHIA WALK 10 The property comprises a three storey semi detached Victorian dwelling converted into offices, which has been further extended in the 1980 s to provide additional two storey office accommodation and undercroft car parking. Accommodation The property has been measured in accordance with the RICS Code of Measuring Practice (6th Edition) and comprises the following net internal floor area: Floor Area Sq M Sq Ft Offices 747.9 8,050 32 SOPHIA CLOSE Car Parking The property benefits from 24 designated car spaces, providing an excellent city centre parking ratio of 1:335 sq ft. CATHEDRAL ROAD Site The site comprises approximately 0.311 acres (0.126 Ha). Tenure We understand that the property is held freehold. Tenancy The property is let in its entirety to Willmott Dixon Holdings Ltd on a full repairing and insuring lease for 30 years from 29 September 1987 expiring on 28 September 2017. There is a rent review falling due on 29 September 2012. The current rental is 90,000 per annum equating to 11.18 per sq ft. 32 Cathedral Road & 1 Sophia Close Cardiff
Covenant For the accounting year ending 31/12/2010, Willmott Dixon Holdings Ltd showed a turnover of 989.52 million and a pre-tax profit of 26.56 million. Creditsafe gives them a credit rating of 96 out of 100 reflecting a very good credit worthiness. VAT We understand that VAT will be levied on the purchase price. Proposal Offers in the region of 1,100,000 (One Million One Hundred Thousand Pounds) reflecting a net initial yield of 7.73% after deducting usual purchaser s costs of 5.8%. Viewing and Further Information Viewing strictly by prior appointment with the sole agents : Owen Jones 029 2052 3005 ojones@lsh.co.uk Lee Mogridge 029 2049 0499 lmogridge@lsh.co.uk Lambert Smith Hampton Disclaimer: Lambert Smith Hampton Group Limited and its subsidiaries and their joint agents if any ( LSH ) for themselves and for the seller or landlord of the property whose agents they are give notice that: (i) These particulars are given and any statement about the property is made without responsibility on the part of LSH or the seller or landlord and do not constitute the whole or any part of an offer or contract. (ii) Any description, dimension, distance or area given or any reference made to condition, working order or availability of services or facilities, fixtures or fittings, any guarantee or warrantee or statutory or any other permission, approval or reference to suitability for use or occupation, photograph, plan, drawing, aspect or financial or investment information or tenancy and title details or any other information set out in these particulars or otherwise provided shall not be relied on as statements or representations of fact or at all and any prospective buyer or tenant must satisfy themselves by inspection or otherwise as to the accuracy of all information or suitability of the property. (iii) No employee of LSH has any authority to make or give any representation or warranty arising from these particulars or otherwise or enter into any contract whatsoever in relation to the property in respect of any prospective purchase or letting including in respect of any re-sale potential or value or at all. (iv) Price or rent may be subject to VAT and any prospective buyer or tenant must satisfy themselves concerning the correct VAT position. (v) Except in respect of death or personal injury caused by the negligence of LSH or its employees or agents, LSH will not be liable, whether in negligence or otherwise howsoever, for any loss arising from the use of these particulars or any information provided in respect of the property save to the extent that any statement or information has been made or given fraudulently by LSH. (vi) In the case of new development or refurbishment prospective buyers or tenants should not rely on any artists impressions or architects drawings or specification or scope of works or amenities, infrastructure or services or information concerning views, character or appearance and timing concerning availability or occupation and prospective buyers or tenants must take legal advice to ensure that any expectations they may have are provided for direct with the seller or landlord and LSH shall have no liability whatsoever concerning any variation or discrepancy in connection with such matters. For information on other sales please visit and register at www.lshinvestmentsales.co.uk and www.lshauctions.co.uk June 2012