Industrial Refurb & Letting Southampton

It is good to know that an Exeter agent is doing deals outside the South West.   Having recently been involved with the letting of an office building they manage  in Cambridge City Centre, Hudson & Co have just let an industrial building they also manage for a client  in Eastleigh, near Southampton.   This particular property is an interesting case study and a good example of what pro-active management can achieve.  The property in question is located on the popular and busy Boyatt Wood Industrial Estate, close to the M3, and had been occupied by a very good tenant, being part of the GPL group, who used the property as a depot for their road sweepers.

The property comprised a good sized building and yard, with two workshops and offices.  The fabric of the building, with asbestos cladding dating from the 1970’s, was looking a bit tired, and the previous use was somewhat dirty.  On the expiry of the lease, GPL decided to move as they had outgrown the property and having achieved a good figure following dilapidations negotiations, a decision had to be made as to whether the client retained the property or sold it in a poor market.  Whilst the market was challenging, the property offered a great opportunity to modernise with a re-clad over an existing portal frame and produce a quality product that was in limited supply in the locality.   With the advice of Hudson & Co. and their joint agent Lambert Smith Hampton, the client, Portlemouth Estates Ltd, took a bold decision to refurbish an empty property in a very difficult market.

The refurbishment was project managed by CBRE’s office in Southampton and the result is the equivalent of a brand new building, fully compliant with the latest insulation standards offering low costs in use, and providing a property where a tenant would have no issues with taking on a full repairing lease.  In the course of the refurbishment Hudson & Co found a tenant who was ready and eager to move in on the day of practical completion, and a new 10 year lease was negotiated.  The occupier of the property is a well known operator in motor racing, Brookspeed   International Motorsport, and the building ideally suits their requirements for a good location and a modern workshop and sales facility suited to the sale, storage servicing and repair of very expensive high performance motor cars.

Hudson & Co’s client is delighted with the result, a new building, a good tenant, and a long lease.   Pictured are Martin Braybrook, MD of Brookspeed, and Peter Visick of Portlemouth Estates.