Royal Armouries seeks new landlord as Canal & River Trust float land sale

The Canal & River Trust are selling their land holding at Leeds Dock, home to the Royal Armouries National Museum.
On the market for £11.69m, the freehold property is being sold subject to two 999-year ground leases, with the museum’s lease secured by a non-departmental government body, funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sports, for the next 971 years, providing an unprecedented level of secure income to the new landlord.

Covering 12.36-acres in the centre of Leeds, on the city’s South Bank, the site is split into two zones.

The purpose-built Royal Armouries Museum, which pays £591,500 in ground rent per annum for the site, forms zone one and is globally recognised as one of the most important museums in the world due to its collection of arms and armour that dates back to the 11th century.

Adjacent to the main building is a 1.41-acre outdoor events space, known as The Tiltyard.

Zone two encompasses a 1,500 space multi storey car park, a hotel, 350 high-end residential apartments, 94,000 sq ft of office space and New Dock Hall conference centre, which hosts many large-scale events each year, bringing significant footfall to the area.

David Winterbottom, Principal at Avison Young, who are marketing the sale said:

“Royal Armouries National Museum is a high profile, iconic building and it’s rare to be selling a development of such national importance that also benefits from leases of over 900 years on unexpired terms.

“We expect a lot of interest in the asset from a mix of traditional investors, together with some high-net-worth individuals who will be attracted by the opportunity which is underpinned with long term income, vacant possession value and sub income from underleases.”

A spokesperson for the Canal & River Trust said:

“Our charity has put on the market the freehold which generates an annual rent that goes towards keeping our amazing but ageing canals open and navigable. If a sale goes ahead, the proceeds will be re-invested into alternative investment assets with the exactly the same intention of generating a long-term annual income to keep our canals alive.”

 

This post is based on a press release issued on behalf of Avison Young

 

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