Birmingham office block sold for £23.5m

An office block in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter has been sold.

The B1 building has been bought from Galliard Homes and Apsley House Capital for £23.5 million by Kamco Invest Group and M7 Real Estate which is the majority owner and asset manager of the city's Mailbox complex.

B1, which fronts on to Camden Street and Summer Hill Road, has 92,472 sq ft of office space and a 206-space surface car park contained within a four-acre site.

The building is fully let to The Department for Work & Pensions and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust on long term leases following a brace of deals signed over the past 15 months.

Chris Duffy, commercial director at Galliard Homes, said: "The Galliard Apsley Partnership acquired the development in 2018, initially with the intention of redeveloping the site into a residential scheme.

"However, with Birmingham attracting significant inward investment and interest from companies looking to base themselves in the city, as well as the north-shoring of Government departments from London, we decided to retain and refurbish the building for use as office accommodation.

"This decision was justified with the letting to the DWP which was achieved despite the challenges posed by the global pandemic."

The deal was brokered by Knight Frank and Tydus Real Estate, acting on behalf of The Galliard Apsley Partnership.

Jamie Baruch, director at Tydus Real Estate, added: "The sale of B1 demonstrates that there continues to be investor appetite in the office sector for properties with secure income streams which are also underpinned by vacant possession value for alternative uses."

The Galliard Apsley Partnership was formed in 2016 with the aim of acquiring brownfield sites in the West Midlands to provide mixed-use schemes.

It is also behind the Soho Wharf residential scheme in Ladywood and The Timber Yard apartment complex near the Hippodrome theatre among others.