BDO Simpson Xavier has purchased a €60 million retail and office development on London's Oxford Street on behalf of a group of Irish investors.
The business advisers, which already manage a property portfolio worth €1.5 billion on behalf of private clients, is searching for further deals around Europe. The names of the investors were not disclosed.
This latest deal involves the acquisition of Academy House, a prime corner site with 32,000 square foot of lettable retail and office space. BDO said it came with rental income of almost £2 million sterling (€2.92 million).
Consortia members invested a minimum of £150,000 sterling in the deal which is designed to capitalise on retail rental growth on the east side of Oxford Street and the anticipated strong recovery in west end prime office rents over the coming years.
Academy House is located at 161-167 Oxford Street and was built to a high specification in 1990, with the offices refurbished in 2003. The building comprises ground and first floor retail and five floors of offices overhead. BDO said the purchase price reflected a competitive net yield of 4.6 per cent.
Most major UK multiples have at least one outlet on Oxford Street. The three retail units in Academy House, currently let to First Sport, Abbey National and H. Samuel, have the potential to be redeveloped into a single large flagship store should the need or demand arise, said BDO.
With Marks & Spencer next door to Academy House, other neighbours on the street include Next, Dorothy Perkins, and SuperDrug with a flagship Zara outlet due to open in 2007.
