Council acquires offices to help bolster income
ASOLIHULL office block has been sold for £6.1 million to a council looking to create income to support its local services.
Wyre Forest District Council has acquired the 31,000 sq ft Stratford Court, in Cranmore Boulevard, from a private investor.
Stratford Court is let to six tenants and there is also an expired planning consent to build two office buildings, totalling 19,911 sq ft, at the site.
Wyre Forest District Council made the purchase as part of its ongoing plans to generate income to support local services in the Kidderminster area.
Councillor Marcus Hart, leader of Wyre Forest District Council, said: “The council adopted its ‘Capital Portfolio Strategy’ in 2017 as part of its plans to invest up to £25 million in developing its own assets or acquiring new properties.
“This new acquisition reaffirms the council’s commitment to supporting economic growth as a partner in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership as well as generating vital income for the council to invest in delivering services to the residents of Wyre Forest.”
Edward Jones, investment director at Blue Marble Asset Management, acted on behalf of the council in the deal. He said: “Demand for office accommodation in Solihull has been very strong in recent years, meaning that accommodation in the Solihull office market is at an all time low which is having a positive impact on rental growth. Combined with the property displaying all of the right property fundamentals, means this an ideal property for us to apply our asset management skills to create a good long term income producing investment for our client. The prop- erty also benefits from two areas of undeveloped land and this will allow us to explore some further value add initiatives.”
Property consultancy Savills advised Blue Marble and the council while Lewis Ellis acted for the vendor.