New Chester Road business park acquired for £3.45m

Commerce Trade Park in Birkenhead has been acquired for £3.45m by a £100m multi-let industrial property investment fund.

Managed by property investment company JR Capital and industrial asset manager Chancerygate, the fund has acquired the 40,004 sq ft scheme from investment and property management company, London & Cambridge Properties (LCP).

Comprising four road facing trade counter, eight industrial and two office units ranging from 606 sq ft to 7,747 sq ft, the trade park is prominently situated on the New Chester Road (A41), approximately one mile south of the town centre and within the Wirral’s dominant trade counter location.

The scheme’s anchor tenants include construction materials supplier, Saint Gobain Building Distribution; tools, accessories and building supplies specialist, Toolstation; and kitchens and joinery specialist, Benchmarx.

JR Capital head of investments, Michael Ferris, said, “This is a welcome addition to our growing portfolio and increases the funds exposure to the North West region of the UK. The Trade Park is ideally situated in a prominent position on the main trade thoroughfare and adjacent to the Wirral Waters regeneration.” 

The fund has a further £68m to spend over the next 12 months and intends to raise further capital. It is targeting multi-let industrial investments across the UK in lot sizes of £3m to £15m.

Chancerygate asset manager, David Tyson, added, “We are pleased to be adding such a strong asset to our portfolio in the form of Commerce Trade Park. The scheme boasts an impressive line-up of occupiers from some very well-known brands, many of which have performed exceptionally well despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

“The addition of the trade park to our fund’s portfolio strengthens it significantly and we look forward to announcing further acquisitions over the coming months.”

London-based JR Capital is a FCA-registered multi-family office business with a focus on real estate. It provides a platform for its Middle East-based private and institutional clients to co-invest into both the UK and European real estate markets. Founded in 2005 by John Collier-Wright, it has concluded over £2bn of transactions across all sectors.

Chancerygate is the UK’s largest multi-unit industrial developer and asset manager and the only one operating nationwide. In addition to Warrington, the company has offices in London, Birmingham and Milton Keynes. Its asset management team currently manages £220m of assets across 4.9m sq ft of commercial space in more than 350 units.

B8 Real Estate acted on behalf of Chancerygate and JR Capital, while Mason Partners LLP acted for LCP.