Future for the office looks secure after £10m. of sales

TWO commercial properties in St Peter Port have been bought by a private client for more than £10m.

Bordage House, bought on behalf of a client by Savills.

Bordage House on Le Bordage was bought for £3,865,000. Sold on behalf of Craigard by Watts Property Consultants, the four-storey office building is let to Fort Management Services, TPA and Butterfield Bank.

‘The building was our first syndicated commercial property investment acquisition on Guernsey and it has performed well,’ said Paul Foster of Craigard. ‘The reception and car park have been refurbished and improved and rental income has been increased. Our investors have seen an annual return of 11.5% without undue exposure to risk.’

St George’s Place was not on the market before it sold for nearly £7m.

Savills acted for the unnamed purchaser on both deals, the second being St George’s Place on the Esplanade – often known as the Piette Complex. The mixed warehouse and office complex, let to a variety of tenants, was not openly marketed and was sourced for the client by Terry Gardiner of Savills Commercial. The purchase price was £6,989,000.

Tony Rowbotham, head of commercial sales for Savills in the Channel Islands, said that it was delighted to complete the transaction on the last working day of 2021. ‘The sales proved that Guernsey remains attractive as a place to conduct business and invest capital.’

Carey Olsen undertook legal due diligence on behalf of the buyer and Savills has been appointed as property manager for both properties.

Another transaction that took place at the end of 2021 was the sale of No 1, The Plaza by Watts Property Consultants. While the sale price has not been disclosed, the new 30,000sq. ft office building was sold following practical completion of the landlord’s works by developer Comprop, with Bank Julius Baer signing a lease for the upper three floors.

No 1 The Plaza, part of Admiral Park, has been sold by Watts Property Consultants.

The Grade A building has a BREEAM sustainability benchmark rating of ‘very good’, representing another milestone for Guernsey in a climate where the need to satisfy environmental, social and governance criteria is becoming ever more prevalent.

‘In what has been an environment of relative uncertainty, due to the increase in working from home, these sales [Bordage House and No 1 The Plaza] send positive signs to the market as a whole and signal that investor sentiment is not at all concerned about the long-term future of Guernsey offices,' said Wing Lai, director at Watts Property.

'With a continued pipeline for 2022, early indications are that this year will be as positive as the last.’