A bidding frenzy has pushed the sale price of a former Northern Ireland Methodist church to £1.2m — three times its guide price.
The Grade II listed church on Belfast’s University Street was previously owned by the Ballygowan-based Soll Developments but was repossessed by the Irish government’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). It was being sold by accountancy firm PwC acting as a fixed charge receiver.
When it was advertised earlier this year the original asking price for the 9,260 sq ft property was just £400,000. The budget pub chain JD Wetherspoon quickly emerged as a serious bidder — others included a London-based flexible office company and a Dublin developer — and it was first thought the red-brick church had gone for £800,000.
Although it is refusing to comment on the sale, PcW has confirmed the eventual closing price was just under one-and-a-quarter million pounds.
“Rarely does such a landmark property come to the market for sale and Wetherspoon’s has clearly identified an opportunity to convert this listed property into a unique licensed premises to cater for the university market,” said Lewis Gordon, a senior surveyor at property services agency Dunlop Heywood.
“The reason this particular property was sold for such a high price is due to the unique nature of the building,” he explained. “Any buyer of such a unique property has a number of hurdles to overcome from a planning and redevelopment perspective.
“The substantial costs associated with this would need to be factored into their acquisition price. Whilst this is positive news for the Northern Ireland property market it still lags behind what we would have seen for such a property at the peak, back in 2007.”
Wetherspoon’s already owns nine public houses and bars across the Province and is negotiationing to buy the former JJB Sports building on Belfast’s Royal Avenue. Its chairman and founder is Tim Martin who confirmed the acquisition fitted well with his chain’s Irish expansion plans.
“We are doing very, very well at the Bridge House in Belfast and that has given us confidence to have a look at a few more locations,” said Martin.
Soll Developments had wanted to transform the church, which closed through dwindling attendances, into a mezzanined apartment scheme but this evaporated when Soll and a sister firm, Soll Lands, collapsed in 2009 owing more than £16m.
The former church is on the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society’s at risk register which describes the listed property as “an important piece of townscape and an imposing building in its own right”.
Elsewhere in Belfast, potential owners of a Northern Ireland shopping complex are being warned they face an extra expense — £60,000 a year to allow their customers to cross an access bridge.
Connswater Shopping Centre and Retail Park in east Belfast — one of Northern Ireland’s oldest retail sites — is on the market with a guide price of £26m.
The 224,684 sq ft shopping centre contains 47 ground floor retail units and has recently been extended to include a five unit first floor food-court. It is anchored by Tesco and Dunnes Stores, with Argos, Boots, Peacocks, New Look, Poundstretcher, Poundland and O2 among its other tenants.
The retail park, located immediately north east of the shopping centre, covers 132,909 sq ft and has 18 units with mainly value or budget tenants such as B & M Bargains, Halfords, and Poundworld.
Situated off Belfast’s Newtownards Road, Connswater was started in 1983 and extended again 11 years later. It is now owned by Killultagh Estate and is being marketed by CBRE, whose brochure warns any new owner. “There is a ground rent payable to The Crown Estate Commissioners in relation to a bridge over the Connswater River of £60,000 per annum.”
The sell-off is seen as more evidence of a return to normal business for Killultagh Estates, one of Northern Ireland’s largest property firms which earlier this year announced it was back in the black after suffering years of heavy losses during the recession.
