Letting on significant conversion in Dartford

RNS Number : 5406U

Palace Capital PLC

19 January 2017

 

Palace Capital plc

("Palace Capital" or the "Company")

PALACE SECURES LETTING ON SIGNIFICANT CONVERSION IN DARTFORD

Palace Capital, the property investment company that focuses on real estate outside London, announces a significant letting at The Copperfields, Dartford, Kent.

The Copperfields, a small shopping centre with offices above, was acquired by the Company from Quintain plc  as part of the Sequel Portfolio acquisition in October 2013. Soon after the property was acquired, the tenant occupying circa 10,000 sq ft of office space served notice to vacate. Palace Capital took advantage of the Permitted Development legislation and ultimately secured consent to convert the first-floor offices into 13 self-contained flats.

A £2.25 million building contract has now been completed, following which Dartford Borough Council will take possession of all 13 flats on a 10-year lease.  This lease has no break and provides rental income of £146,500 per annum, inclusive of service charge, to Palace Capital, rising annually by 2.5%. Dartford Borough Council has the benefit of a rent-free period until mid-April 2017 in lieu of works that they will be carrying out to the flats.

Neil Sinclair, the Chief Executive of Palace Capital, commented:

"When we acquired The Copperfields there were vacant retail units, retail tenants with serious rent arrears and an office tenant where the lease had a break clause which had been exercised. Our brand of active management is to maximise value and income.  After meeting senior officers of the Council to discuss their plans for the town, we placed a building contract to convert the vacant offices into flats.  As a result, we have secured a gilt-edged tenant in a growth location, eliminated empty rate payments on the vacant offices and have secured an income stream until 2027."

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Date: 19 January 2017

For further information, contact:

Palace Capital plc

Neil Sinclair, Chief Executive

Stephen Silvester, Finance Director

Tel. [phone]

Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)

Nick Naylor / James Reeve

Tel. [phone]

Arden Partners plc (Joint Broker)

Chris Hardie / Ciaran Walsh

Tel. [phone]

Capital Access Group (Financial PR)

Scott Fulton / Jessica Bradford

Tel. [phone]

 

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