East Devon District Council have just completed the acquisition of their first investment property Ocean Blue leisure complex on Exmouth sea front, Devon.
The sale of the leisure investment was arranged by the investment department of
Vickery Holman on behalf of a private investor.
Ocean Blue consist of ten pin bowling, children’s soft play area, bars, restaurants wedding venue and convenience store totalling 48,877 sq ft (4,541 sq m).
The long leasehold sale benefited from a sublease of the whole to LED Leisure Management Limited for a term of 25 years from June 2015 with a break at year 15 paying £200,000 pa. The rent is to be reviewed every 5 years in line with the CPI index.
East Devon paid £2,700,000 which reflects a net initial return of 7.00% allowing for purchasers cost of 6.43%.
Vickery Holman’s Head of Investment Mike Oldrieve comments “Quite a landmark deal for our client who built and operated the complex originally before being approached by LED to take over the business. Leisure is still one of the markets where you will find long term income which is popular with local authority investors. A great facility in a stunning location and I am sure it will produce a good return for
East Devon for many years”.
Tim Child – Service Lead – Place, Assets & Commercialisation, East Devon District Council comments “This is the 1st investment that the Council has made using its £20,000,000 Commercial Investment Fund. The Fund is designed to generate £450,000 net income per annum to support Council services and activities going forward. This will help address future budget challenges for the Council and contribute to wider growth and prosperity for residents, businesses and visitors to East Devon.”
Further Cllr Geoff Pook, Portfolio Holder for Asset Management “I am delighted that the Council has now completed the acquisition of the Ocean Blue leisure complex using its Commercial Investment Fund. Investment in this and other properties over the next few years will help the Council towards financial selfsufficiency along with giving the Council a further and direct stake in the growth, prosperity and place making aspirations across East Devon. The seafront at Exmouth has a great future with Sideshore Watersports Centre now coming alive and with exciting opportunities for the next phase of Queens Drive development this is a great location to invest in”.
