Refurbished office block bought by investor

The Sheffield-based company sold 25,000 sq ft Elizabeth House on Queen Street for an undisclosed sum.

JF Finnegan acquired the building in 2011 and carried out a refurbishment programme to transform it into a new head office for law firm Clarion who now occupy 15,000 sq ft.

Two new lettings totalling 6,652 sq ft completed at the end of last year to Leeds, York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Stanley Davis Group, along with a recent letting to Murray Harcourt of 2,000 sq ft.

Currently, one 2,000 sq ft suite remains available within the building.

Nick Gillott, director of JF Finnegan, said; “Elizabeth House has been an incredibly successful project for us from the initial deal to Clarion through to the tenants we have attracted following the comprehensive refurbishment.”

He added: “We are delighted to have brought the building back to life and are now turning our attention to similar future projects.”

Bowcliffe acted as agent for JF Finnegan with the Leeds office of Irwin Mitchell as lawyer. The buyer was represented by Stephenson Day with Addleshaw Goddard as lawyer.

The deal comes as figures show that investment in Yorkshire’s commercial property sector increased to £920m in 2013 – a 37 per cent rise on the previous year and the highest volume achieved since 2010 – according to property agent Lambert Smith Hamp- ton.

Retail and leisure was the most popular asset class among investors in Yorkshire. Deal volumes in this sector represented 44 per cent of the annual aggregate investment figure and amounted to £400m, a 7.3 per cent increase on 2012.

However, it was Yorkshire’s industrial and logistics assets that saw the highest increase in activity, with investment volumes rising from £93m in 2012 to £318m in 2013, accounting for 35 per cent of the region’s annual aggregate investment figure.

The report said that the market remains highly polarised as buyers focus on prime assets in the best locations.

Key deals included the Tritax acquisition of a Sainsbury’s distribution warehouse in Sherburn-in-Elmet for £48.5m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.39 per cent.