Expanding Wirefox buys Scottish portfolio
A CO Down property firm has purchased a £35m office portfolio in Scotland.
Wirefox, which is headed by property developer BJ Eastwood, has taken on nine buildings covering 400,000sq ft of office space close to Glasgow.
The Rockford property portfolio includes buildings housing IBM, three buildings at Trilogy Business Park and 1 Forrest Gate at Tannochside Business Park.
Steven Flannery, director of investments at Wirefox, said that the “acquisition of such an extensive and high-value office portfolio, following soon after the £18m purchase of Silvan House in Edinburgh, further extends Wirefox’s ever-growing UK presence”.
It follows the acquisition last year of the Southergate Centre, a major retail-led asset in Dumfries town centre.
“Rockford is the latest example of our long-term strategy of recognising value-add investment opportunities, and we look forward to adding significantly to our office portfolio in the future,” Mr Flannery said.
Wirefox has also bought Silvan House in Edinburgh, which includes almost 90,000sq ft of office space let to the Scottish Government.
And Michael Wright, asset management director at Wirefox, said the “tenant profile throughout the Rockford portfolio is extremely strong and we look forward to working with our tenants to ensure their working environment remains of the highest quality”.
“Our reputation for first-class asset management continues to grow with every investment as the market recognises our position as a leading property investment and development firm,” he added.
It’s the latest major acquisition for Wirefox. Earlier this month it emerged the home of Bittles bar had been sold to the company.
The Holywood firm has refurbishment plans for the building, which includes new office space.
Joanne McBurney, director of developments at Wirefox, said: “The purchase of this truly iconic building is the latest example of Wirefox’s burgeoning suite of Belfast city centre assets.
“There is significant commercial property activity in the area and the vacant units on each floor offer tremendous potential for development.”
Meanwhile, Wirefox has also bought office buildings Oxford and Gloucester House and Longbridge House in Belfast city centre. It’s also linked to a possible £125m purchase of CastleCourt shopping centre.
CastleCourt has been owned by Hermes property fund since 2012. A spokesman for Wirefox said it does not comment on “speculation and rumour”.
CastleCourt, which houses Debenhams and Gap among other stores, underwent a centre rebrand in 2015.