Bridges Sustainable Property Fund (the “Fund”) announces the sale of 158/170 Edmund Street, Birmingham to F&C UK Property Fund for £11.65m, reflecting a yield of 5.75%.

The 30,000 sq. ft. office building was sold to F&C REIT Asset Management, who acted on behalf of F&C UK Property Fund. The property was acquired in 2012 in partnership with Evenacre, a Birmingham based real estate company with a strong track record of purchasing and redeveloping office buildings. The Fund undertook a refurbishment to create high quality office space for a growing number of tenants seeking modern office facilities within the CBD of Birmingham. Following completion of building works the property has been fully let to a range of tenants at headline rents of up to £25 per sq. ft.
Building works included a range of environmental initiatives including intelligent lighting and solar photovoltaic panels. These works improved the property’s EPC rating from D to B, delivering a forecast 44% carbon saving whilst significantly reducing total occupational costs for tenants owing to lower energy and service charge costs.

Guy Bowden, Acquisition Director of Property Funds at Bridges Ventures, commented:  “In common with many of the investments held within our property funds focused on delivering commercial returns whilst making a positive social impact, we acquired this redevelopment opportunity off-market at a price substantially below replacement cost. Whilst investment into provincial offices was out of favour at the time of the acquisition, we had identified increasing tenant interest with limited supply of modern accommodation. By working with Evenacre to acquire the property and implement an environmental refurbishment and improvement programme, we have been able to deliver a very high quality building for which tenant interest has been strong.

“Institutional appetite in regional office investment has now increased substantially and we are very pleased to be able to exit this investment at this point in the cycle and thereby deliver strong returns to our investors.”

Guy Glover, Fund Manager of the F&C UK Property Fund, commented:  “This latest acquisition represents a very attractive asset for our investors, providing good quality income with the prospect to enhance the income further over time.

“The recent refurbishment work undertaken by Bridges Ventures makes the property an extremely desirable prospect for tenants looking for quality office space in the area. The property is well situated to benefit from growing demand for modern office facilities within the centre of Birmingham.

“The F&C UK Property Fund is continuing to expand and remains committed to acquiring well let, good quality buildings throughout the UK. As a cash purchaser we can continue to act speedily to acquire interesting opportunities as they arise.”

GBR Phoenix Beard acted on behalf of Bridges Ventures and JLL acted on behalf of F&C REIT.

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For further information:

Bridges Ventures    Tel: +44 (0) 20 7262 5566
Simon Ringer / Guy Bowden

FTI Consulting    Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Dido Laurimore  / Ellie Sweeney

Notes to Editors

Bridges Ventures (www.bridgesventures.com)

Bridges Ventures LLP (“Bridges Ventures”) is a specialist fund manager dedicated to using an impact-driven investment approach to create superior returns for both investors and society at large.

Bridges Ventures manages almost £500m across three types of funds: Sustainable Growth Funds, Property Funds and Social Sector Funds.