Close to £90 million of offices is set to change hands in Bristol, CoStar News understands, as investors swoop for prime workspaces in the city and prompt a revival for a location that is home to the BBC, Dyson and KPMG among others.
The first of three major office investment deals being lined up is a £30 million transaction for the out-of-town Imperial Brands headquarters at 121 Winterstoke Road. Market sources says the circa 58,000-square-foot building, occupied by the tobacco brand since 2013, is under offer to Northtree Investment Management.
It is being sold by Abrdn, which recently disposed of another large Bristol office building, Temple Quay House, for circa £50 million deal to a high-net-worth Egyptian family. Colliers is handling the sale of the Imperial headquarters for Abrdn.
CoStar data shows that Abrdn bought the 121 Winterstoke Road offices from Imperial Brands on a sale-and-lease back deal for around £52 million in August 2018, reflecting a 4.69% net yield. It was renovated in 2014 and is rated EPC C, a one-minute drive from Parson Street Commuter Rail.
In the centre of town, Resolution Property is on the cusp of selling Programme, its circa 180,000-square-foot mixed-use, office-led scheme close to Castle Park. Market sources have said that Resolution has exchanged with an undisclosed buyer for around £40 million, reflecting an 8.5% net yield.
CoStar data shows the property investment and asset management company bought the All Saints Street building for £17.5 million in November 2015. The former Fry's chocolate factory houses coworking space provider Spaces across 17,000 square feet. Savills is acting for Resolution at the property.
The sale of Programme would see the company exit the regions altogether with its website showing that its remaining UK properties are all in London. Properties it owns and managed in the capital include Soho's Ampersand building and the Gramophone Works in Nottingham Hill.
In a smaller deal, Redcliff Quay is under offer to an alternative use buyer for circa £17 million. The property, which sits next to the canal in the centre of town, is owned by Legal & General, with Knight Frank appointed on the disposal.
Pensions provider L&G bought 120 Redcliff Street in October 2013 for around £20 million in a deal with Abrdn. The circa 108,000-square-foot office property houses banking giants HSBC, which has 18,377 square feet, as well as Haseltine Lake Kempner, circa 16,000 square feet.
The trio of deal combined to just under £90 million of office investment deals and would add impetus to the market, which is also seeing other workplaces come to the market at the beginning of 2024.
For example, the city's tallest office building Castlemead is being sold by receivers, quoting around £27.5 million, or an 11.48% net initial yield. CBRE is instructed on the 80-metre tower, which is multilet to 15 tenants and is 94% occupied.
Out-of-town Bristol mixed-use site, The Printworks and Papermills Apartments, is also on the market. Agency Avison Young is quoting a gross development value of £35 million. CoStar data indicates is owned by M G & G Holdings, having acquired the site from Douglas Homes for £2 million in 2022.
Abrdn, Northtree Investment Management, Resolution Property and Legal & General Investment Management were approached for comment.