British Land buys Maidenhead scheme

British Land has bought Grenfell Island, a 198,000 sq ft prime office and leisure scheme in Maidenhead town centre, for £74m representing a net initial yield of 7.5 percent. The property comprises 113,000 sq ft of office space let to Hutchison 3G UK as the UK headquarters of Hutchison Whampoa.

The unexpired lease term is 9.5 years and includes a 10-screen Odeon cinema and health club which anchors an extra 85,000 sq ft of leisure accommodation in an adjoining building. The weighted average lease length for the entire property is 10.7 years.

Tim Roberts, head of offices at British Land said the acquisition provides the company with an attractive income return in an improving occupier market and fitted well within its strategic priority of creating sustainable and growing property rental streams.

“It also has significant capital appreciation potential given both the future benefits of Cross Rail and as the markets in the South East continue to improve.”Knight Frank represented British Land and Lambert Smith Hampton acted for the private vendor.