RO COMPLETES NEW LETTINGS AT STAINES OFFICE BUILDING

28/11/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed two new lettings, totalling circa 3,000 sq ft of space at Staines One in Staines-upon Thames, Surrey.

ASG Software Solutions has taken 2,764 sq ft on the second floor of the building, on a 5 year lease at a rent of £76,010 (£27.50 psf) with half-rent in the first 2 years.

United Closures and Plastics Limited (UCP) has taken a further 192 sq ft of space on the ground floor and it has signed a new reversionary lease on the existing 630 sq ft from December 2015, both at a rent of £27.50 psf.

Staines One is a three storey self-contained office building, with 8,095 sq ft of air-conditioned office space and secure parking for up to 33 cars. It is conveniently located near the station which provides just a 35 minute service direct to London Waterloo Station. RO Real Estate refurbished the building in 2009 and since then Staines One has always let well. There is currently only 336 sq ft available.

Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “These new lettings are testament to the quality of the building as we continue to retain tenants at Staines One. This positive result is in line with our strategy of buying well located assets which will let well and can be improved through active asset management.”

New Ballerino acted for RO, while Dixon Wright acted for ASG Software Solutions. UCP were unrepresented.

- Ends -

For further information:

Edward Rowlandson / Nick Moore, RO Real Estate 

01707 601400 / 0207 025 1780

info@rogroup.co.uk

Faye Walters, Tavistock Communications
020 7920 3150
fwalters@tavistock.co.uk

Notes to Editors:
RO Real Estate is a privately-owned company specialising in commercial property investment and development in the south east. It is the property division of the RO Group, which has majority interests in businesses involved in residential development, high-quality holiday lodge developments, domiciliary and specialist care services and the development of utility-scale solar energy projects.

www.rogroup.co.uk
www.rorealestate.co.uk

RO SELLS HEMEL ONE OFFICE BUILDING TO THREADNEEDLE

17/11/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed the sale of its 96,000 sq ft office building in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, to Threadneedle Investments for £17.75 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.75%.

Hemel One on Boundary Way is a grade A office building, comprising 96,000 sq ft of space over four floors. The building is fully let to a range of well-known companies, including Ericsson, Kcom and BP with an average weighted unexpired term of 5.4 years to expiries and 2.6 years to breaks.

Since acquiring the property in 2005 from 3Com, RO Real Estate has added significant value through a number of initiatives, including a comprehensive refurbishment, which have led to an increase in the headline rent from £12 per sq ft to £17 per sq ft. The property has delivered a net rental income of £1.46 million per annum.

Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “Hemel One has been a classic RO refurbishment and asset management play. We were able to refurbish the building, retain tenants and then lease the remainder of the space on traditional and innovative, semi-serviced office solutions.

“We are actively seeking similar value-add opportunities in the South East where our skill-set and experience will enable us to generate income and capital growth”.

Knight Frank acted for RO Real Estate, while Deloitte acted for Threadneedle.

- Ends -

For further information:

Edward Rowlandson / Nick Moore, RO Real Estate 

01707 601400 / 0207 025 1780

info@rogroup.co.uk

Faye Walters, Tavistock Communications
020 7920 3150
fwalters@tavistock.co.uk


Notes to Editors:

RO Real Estate is a privately-owned company specialising in commercial property investment and development in the south east. It is the property division of the RO Group, which has majority interests in businesses involved in residential development, high-quality holiday lodge developments, domiciliary and specialist care services and the development of utility-scale solar energy projects.

www.rogroup.co.uk

www.rorealestate.co.uk

RICHARD'S VIEW

03/11/14

WHAT MAKES A SERVICE STATION AN ATTRACTIVE ACQUISITION?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To the general public a petrol filling station is not a particularly interesting acquisition, but to the canny property investor it can offer a lot more than the eye can see.

A service station in the right location and let on a strong covenant provides a strong investment and can provide the potential for adding value and planning an alternative, higher-value use in the future.

As an example, RO Real Estate has just acquired Westacre Services, an Esso petrol filling station and convenience store on the A36, which is one of the major routes in and out of Salisbury towards Wilton and the A303.

Whenever we look to make an acquisition we focus on two things: is the asset in a strong location and does it offer covenant strength?

Westacre ticks both boxes, but it also offers a lot more. The property is currently let to Flying Visit Limited on a 15 year lease at a rent of £150,705 a year, providing a net initial yield of 7.46% after costs.

However, we discovered that there are a number of fuel sale and retail operators, that are keen to secure a position on the prominent site. In addition, the site also has excellent prospects for residential conversion in the longer term. This creates for us strong long-term income with the potential to add significant value.

We look at the end potential of every asset, and a service station is definitely one which has much more to offer than initially meets the eye.

RO ACQUIRES OFFICE BUILDING IN CAMBRIDGE

20/10/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed the acquisition of Discovery House, a 9,094 sq ft office building in Cambridge, for £2.85 million from Turnstone Estates.

Discovery House is located on Vision Park which is conveniently situated approximately three miles north of Cambridge city centre in the affluent village of Histon. Vision Park is a popular and established business park benefitting from close proximity to road and rail transportation links which further offer direct lines to Kings Cross and Liverpool Street.

The property is currently let to Internet Watch Foundation Limited on a 10 year lease (from 12 May 2014) at a rent of £203,625 a year, providing a net initial yield of 6.75% after purchaser costs.

This purchase is part of RO’s acquisition programme to invest in core income and value-add opportunities in the South East of England. RO Real Estate still has a significant amount of cash remaining to reinvest on lot sizes between £2-5 million, which offer the opportunity to add value through active asset management.

Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “There is high demand for this type of quality office space in Cambridge and a lack of supply means that there is the potential for future rental growth which will provide long-term secure income for our portfolio”.

RO Real Estate was advised by Hoddel Stotesbury Morgan. The vendor was advised by Finn and Company.

-          Ends    -

For further information:

Edward Rowlandson / Nick Moore, RO Real Estate 

01707 601400 / 0207 025 1780

info@rogroup.co.uk

Faye Walters, Tavistock Communications
020 7920 3150
fwalters@tavistock.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

RO Real Estate is a privately-owned company specialising in commercial property investment and development in the south east. It is the property division of the RO Group, which has majority interests in businesses involved in residential development, high-quality holiday lodge developments, domiciliary and specialist care services and the development of utility-scale solar energy projects.

www.rogroup.co.uk

www.rorealestate.co.uk

RO COMPLETES THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEMEL PARK

22/09/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed the sale of the last remaining plot at Hemel Park, Boundary Way, Hemel Hempstead.

RO has sold the 1.74 acre Plot 1 at Hemel Park for £1.6 million to Private One Stop Doctors Ltd, achieving close to £1 million per acre.

Private One Stop Doctors Ltd will construct a private medical facility on the site which will be in accordance with RO’s agreed design brief and specification.

This disposal follows the sale of Plot 2 to Imagination Technologies Ltd for £1,050,000 + VAT and the sale of Plot 3 to Trustees of DIME holdings retirement benefit scheme for £1,190,000 + VAT. These plots have been developed-out by owner occupiers for a data centre and trade only builder’s merchant.

Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “This disposal completes our interest in Hemel Park and demonstrates how popular this high-quality site has been with occupiers. We have achieved a strong return on our investment and it reiterates our ability to source assets in strong locations and to add value through asset management, refurbishment and development”.

RO Real Estate was unrepresented. Private One Stop Doctors Ltd was advised by Brasier Freeth.

RO Real Estate purchased the 7.5 acre Hemel Park estate in 2005 before purchasing an additional 1.5 acres from 3 Com in 2008. RO reconfigured the estate to provide four self-contained plots including the 100,000 sq ft Hemel One office building with parking for 465 cars and three self-contained plots of 1.74 acres, 1.8 acres and 1.4 acres.

RO Real Estate secured planning and produced a design brief and specification for each plot and unit to ensure consistency and a high quality of design throughout the park. RO Real Estate refurbished the 100,000 sq ft office building in 2005 and 2007 and has subsequently let the entire building to a variety of tenants including BP, Ericsson, K Com and NHS.

- Ends - 

For further information:

Richard Bourne, RO Real Estate

0207 025 1780
Richard.Bourne@rogroup.co.uk

Faye Walters, Tavistock Communications
020 7920 3150
fwalters@tavistock.co.uk

Notes to Editors:
RO Real Estate is a privately-owned company specialising in commercial property investment and development in the South East. It is the property division of the RO Group, which has majority interests in businesses involved in residential development, high-quality holiday lodge developments, domiciliary and specialist care services and the development of utility-scale solar energy projects.

www.rogroup.co.uk
www.rorealestate.co.uk

RO ACQUIRES SALISBURY SERVICE STATION

11/09/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has completed the acquisition of Westacre Service Station in Salisbury, Wiltshire, for £1.9 million from Aureus Property Limited. 

Westacre Services is an Esso fuel filling station and convenience store located on the A36 Wilton Road, which is one of the major routes in and out of Salisbury towards Wilton and the A303. The property is currently let to Flying Visit Limited on a 15 year lease (from March 2010) at a rent of £150,705 per annum, providing a net initial yield of 7.46% after purchaser’s costs.

In addition there are a number of fuel sale and retail operators keen to secure the prominent site and it also has excellent prospects for residential conversion in the future.

This purchase is part of RO’s acquisition programme to invest in core income and value-add opportunities in the South of England. RO Real Estate will continue this programme throughout 2014 and still has a significant amount of cash to reinvest on lot sizes between £2-5 million, which offer the opportunity to add value through active asset management.

Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “This acquisition will help improve the quality and performance of our portfolio as the opportunity offers long term secure income in a strong location with future potential to add value”. 

RO Real Estate was advised by HSM Chartered Surveyors. Aureus Property Limited was advised by Barber Wadlow.  

For further information:

Richard Bourne, RO Real Estate  0207 025 1780

richard.bourne@rogroup.co.uk

Faye Walters, Tavistock Communications 020 7920 3150

fwalters@tavistock.co.uk 

Notes to Editors:

RO Real Estate is a privately-owned company specialising in commercial property investment and development in the south east. It is the property division of the RO Group, which has majority interests in businesses involved in residential development, high-quality holiday lodge developments, domiciliary and specialist care services and the development of utility-scale solar energy projects. 

 

www.rogroup.co.uk  www.rorealestate.co.uk

RO REAL ESTATE HIRES NEW INVESTMENT SURVEYOR

01/07/14

RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, today announces the appointment of Ben Robinson MRICS as Investment Surveyor. In his new role he will report directly to the Head of Property, Richard Bourne.

Ben, who is 26 years old, joins from Scarborough Group where he spent four years working as an Asset Management Surveyor, responsible for a portfolio of 35 commercial properties across England. Prior to that, he worked as a Valuation Surveyor in Cushman & Wakefield’s Prague office on his placement year from The Nottingham Trent University.

Richard Bourne, Head of Property at RO Real Estate, said: “Ben’s appointment will help us deploy the £35+ million of cash we are looking to invest during the remainder of the year in lot sizes of £2-5 million across the South East. Ben will also be responsible for our bi-annual portfolio valuations and providing detailed market analysis to help support and focus our future investments.”

-    Ends    -

For further information:

Richard Bourne, RO Real Estate

0207 025 1780
Richard.Bourne@rogroup.co.uk

 Faye Walters, Tavistock Communications

020 7920 3150
fwalters@tavistock.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

RO Real Estate is a privately-owned company specialising in commercial property investment and development in the south east. It is the property division of the RO Group, which has majority interests in businesses involved in residential development, high-quality holiday lodge developments, domiciliary and specialist care services and the development of utility-scale solar energy projects.  

www.rogroup.co.uk www.rorealestate.co.uk