Abrdn's £16.2 million acquisition of Sunderland's Velocity 194 logistics hub was crowned the top acquisition in the North East as part of CoStar's 2023 Impact Awards, with judges recognising the deal for attracting one of the lowest yields in the area.
Abrdn bought the 60,000-square-foot industrial development from Buccleuch Property in March 2022, representing a 4% net inital yield. Judges also celebrated the deal for its part in supporting the regeneration of the space in Washington, which had housed a B&Q store.
The Armstrong Way property is let to single tenant international parcel delivery service DPD, which signed a 25-year lease at the beginning of last year, representing a rental income of £698,890 per year.
The long-term lease was one of the main reasons why the judges decided to recognise the deal, with one saying it "hit the sweet spot in the market".
Velocity 194 is in Washington in Tyne & Wear and is eight miles to the south of Newcastle and seven miles west of Sunderland.
About the project: The project was delivered by Parkway Construction. Parkway worked with joint venture partner Argon Properties, the Newcastle based property company, with the whole development from planning to completion and achieved in just 15 months.
The property offers average floor plates of 29,790 square feet and sits on a wider development comprising 194,000 square feet, which lends its name to the scheme.
What the judges said: Tony Wordsworth, Newcastle director of offices at Avison Young, said: "The development brought forward a site that had set dormant for several years, one of the first new generation parcel depots.
"It set a market rent and achieved a market setting yield at the time of the development showing the quality of the scheme that had been developed."
Invest North East England director Guy Currey added: "A great example of a not entirely straight-forward site developed by a locally-based property company and exiting with a blue chip tenant in situ."
They made it happen: Chris Donabie, investment partner at Naylors Gavin Black, Edward Cornwell, head of logistics and industrial capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield, and Steven Herd, partner at Henderson Herd.
