A prominent building at the heart of Surrey market town Godalming has been sold off-market for £2.52 million with property consultancy Vail Williams.
Queensbury Investments Ltd is the new owner of the 48-56 High Street property, which is let to pub chain JD Wetherspoon, operating as the Jack Phillips, which is named after a local man who was the heroic radio officer on the ill-fated Titanic. Hampshire-based clothing firm Fat Face and 24-hour gym Snap Fitness are the other tenants.
The building generates £265,431 per annum in rent, representing a net initial yield of 9.9% for the purchaser.
Vail Williams senior surveyor Ben Duly and associate Ed Martin worked closely with their client in bringing the deal to a successful conclusion.
Ben said: “We were instructed to dispose of the property. After speaking to a number of parties we felt might be interested in the off-market opportunity, a competitive bidding process was held and the property was sold to the highest bidder.
“The result was a great deal for both vendor and purchaser. At a time when retail investments can still be reasonably tricky, it demonstrates yet again that investors remain confident in retail bricks and mortar.”
Vail Williams has managed the building for several years through Ed, working out of the Southampton office, who is being retained by Queensbury Investments.
He said: “We are delighted to be retained by the purchaser. As property manager, we maintain the common parts, inspect them frequently and deal with issues identified.
“We also deal with the service charge management, which includes budgeting for expenditure and annual service charge reconciliations in accordance with the RICS.
“Because we have built up a good relationship with the tenants, it helps obtain a steer on how their businesses are performing.
“We take a collaborative approach with the client and the tenants to ensure we deliver the best possible service and take overall responsibility for the building.”
Queensbury Investments director Ross Kemp said: “We are grateful to Vail Williams for approaching us regarding this off-market opportunity as they knew we had other assets in the town. It complements our commercial property portfolio in the immediate vicinity.”
Law firm Penningtons Manches Cooper acted for the vendor while TWM Solicitors represented the purchaser.
