7th Apr 2005 07:00
Workspace Group PLC07 April 2005 WORKSPACE ADDS TO PORTFOLIO AND PROGRESSES DEVELOPMENTS Workspace Group PLC ("Workspace"), the leading provider of flexible businessaccommodation to small and medium sized enterprises ("SMEs") in London and theSouth East continues to expand its property portfolio. It has announced that ithas recently completed three acquisitions for an aggregate cash consideration of£12.29m. It has also obtained planning consent for a major mixed use residential andcommercial development on its site in Wharf Road, Islington, N1. Furtherplanning applications are in hand for similar developments on other sites. Acquisitions Workspace has made three acquisitions adding a further 114,807 sq ft. of spaceits portfolio. The acquisitions comprise: Lombard House and Lombard Business Park, 2 Purley Way, Croydon - 77,380 sq ft ofoffice and industrial accommodation prominently located at the northern end ofPurley Way. The property is fully let, producing an income of £686,750 p.a.showing a net initial yield of 8.4% on the purchase cost of £7.75m. Lewis House, 3A School Road and 99 Victoria Road, Park Royal - Three adjoiningproperties which total 22,201 sq ft and produce a rent of £179,600 p.a. Thisacquisition provides a net initial yield of 7.1% on the purchase price of £2.37million. The Homesdale Business Centre, 216-218 Homesdale Road, Bromley, Kent - 15,226 sqft of small unit office accommodation in fourteen units which has been acquiredfor £2.16m, showing a net initial yield of 7.17% with scope for improvement to8.25% on full occupancy at current rental values. All three acquisitions complement Workspace's existing holdings and furtherconsolidate the Group's position as the leading provider of space to SMEs inLondon. Planning Consent Workspace has obtained planning consent for a mixed use redevelopment of itssite in Wharf Road, Islington, N1. The consent allows for the demolition of theexisting buildings, to be replaced by a development comprising 30,000 sq ft ofcommercial space and 77 residential units in buildings of up to 10 storeys inheight. Applications have also been submitted for the Group's site at Thurston Road,Lewisham where consent for a high density mixed retail and residential scheme isbeing sought, and for a high density mixed commercial and residentialdevelopment at its site at Highbury Grove, Islington, N1. The decision on thislatter application is anticipated in May 2005. Harry Platt, Workspace Chief Executive commented, " I am delighted to round off the current financial year with theseacquisitions, which we have been following for some time. We have a strategy tocreate local clusters of properties that blend well together. This enables us tooffer our customers an increased range of accommodation. The acquisitions inCroydon and Park Royal will compliment our other sites in these areasparticularly well. " We continue to monitor a number of other possible acquisitions and remainconfident that we can add around £60m in new acquisitions each year. " We are extremely pleased to have obtained planning consent for our site onWharf Road. This demonstrates that our policy of being able to add significantvalue through the planning process is succeeding. Local planning authorities arerecognising increasingly the benefits of permitting mixed use development onland previously allocated solely for employment purposes. We are confident thatthis trend of increasing site densities in urban areas will continue to gathermomentum. This bodes well for Workspace. We have made similar planningapplications for the development of two further sites and are looking at thepossibility of making applications on a number of others. "Occupancy has improved slightly over the final quarter of the financial yearand some further growth in rentals has been secured, marking further steadygrowth by the business." -ends-Date: 7 April 2005For further information: Workspace Group PLC City Profile GroupHarry Platt, Chief Executive Simon CourtenayMark Taylor, Finance Director James Cooper020-7247-7614 020-7448-3244e-mail: [email protected]: www.workspacegroup.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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