Following the recent news that Leeds has a rapidly growing retail market and is hopeful of mixing it with the UK’s traditional commercial property heavyweights, Moorfield Group have unveiled ambitious, office refurbishment plans in the city.
Moorfield Group is real estate and real estate related investor, developer and private equity fund manager, based in London.
In February of this year Moorfield completed the purchase of West Riding House Tower, a landmark commercial property, located in the heart of Leeds. The building was bought out of receivership, for a sum, believed in many quarters to be in the region of £50 million, after the previous owner, a Luxembourg private investment company, defaulted on the mortgage agreement.
With 140,000 sq ft of office space and 64,000 sq ft of retail West Riding House Tower is one of the largest commercial properties in the region. Marc Gilbard, Chief Executiveof Moorfield, declared: ‘A scheme of this size in such a prime location made West Riding House a very interesting investment opportunity. There is the scope to further asset manage this building by attracting new occupiers and exploring the opportunity to extend existing facilities.’
Of the total office space, around 42,750sqft is listed as vacant and estate agents, King Sturge and Savills, have been appointed to market the property.
Moorfield now intends to carry out a ‘significant refurbishment’, with Jonathan Gale, partner in King Sturge’s office agency team, saying: Details of the property upgrade are currently being finalised but are likely to initially centre on upgrading West Riding House’s entrance and common areas to lift the profile of the building in the Leeds office market in line with its superb location.’
This move signifies another boost for the commercial property market in Leeds. With the Leeds Trinity development due for completion in March 2013 and now the refurbishment of the West Riding House Tower, Leeds’ commercial property market appears to be growing in a very healthy manner.
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