A historic office building in Bristol city centre has been sold off for more than £20m to a French asset management firm.
Commercial property business IV Real Estate sold the redeveloped Gilbert House and 41 Corn St office buildings to La Francaise Real Estate Managers, acting on behalf of a collective real estate investment vehicle.
The French firm acquired the properties for a total of £20.65m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.75%.
IV Real Estate acquired the 37,000 sq ft vacant derelict buildings in 2019 and carried out a refurbishment during the pandemic, transforming and attracting new occupiers.
The building’s upper floors, which comprise 28,000 sq ft, are let out to Bristol e-commerce firm Huboo, with Flight Club and The Bristol Cocktail Club on the ground floors. The annual rent roll is around £1.3m.
Alex Jordan of IV Real Estate said: “We are very proud of the Corn St buildings which have helped reposition Corn St as the vibrant heart of the city centre.
“The quality of the redevelopment has resulted in three strong tenants and a great long-term income hold for La Francaise. The Corn St buildings have demonstrated that developing and repositioning buildings with the occupier at the heart of the experience both in terms of usability and sustainability was key to a successful project despite the headwinds created by the pandemic."
Savills and Alder King acted for IV Real Estate in the sale while La Francaise Real Estate Managers was represented by Joiner Cummings.
Andrew Philips of Savills added: “The Corn Street buildings are an outstanding comprehensively refurbished project by IV Real Estate.
“The environment created was perfectly in tune to meet the requirements Bristol’s growing technology sector. The disposal to La Francaise Real Estate Managers is testament to the quality of the scheme and the future growth of Bristol.’’
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