Royalty House, 10 King Street Watford, Hertfordshire WD18 0BW
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Prime Grade A Headquarters Office Investment Royalty House, 10 King Street Watford, Hertfordshire WD18 0BW Prime Grade A Headquarters building Let to Quindell Plc (Pre-Tax Profits £107m, Net Assets £667m) New 10 year lease Let at only £21.50 per sq ft New £2.2m refurbishment with award winning fit out £7,750,000, subject to contract 6.0% net initial yield www.singerviellesales.com Location Situation Watford is an important Greater London town located approximately 27 Royalty House is situated in the heart of Watford town centre fronting King km (17 miles) north-west of Central London, 11 km (7 miles) south of Street, within 100 feet of the junction with High Street. Watford High Street Hemel Hempstead and 13 km (8 miles) south-west of St Albans. Station is less than 0.40 km (0.25 miles) to the south east and Watford Junction Station is less than 1.6 km (1 mile) to the north. Watford is exceptionally well connected by rail, bus and air. A recent report by consultancy Local Futures showed that Watford was the fifth The property is immediately opposite the Met Quarter, a new development best connected local authority area in the country (Source: Watford totalling approximately 4,430 sq m (47,675 sq ft) of seven restaurants and Borough Council). one retail unit, along with 24 residential apartments above. Occupiers include Wagamama, Zizzi, Nando’s, Carluccios, Chimichanga, Jimmy’s The town is situated approximately 5 km (3 miles) south-west of Junction World Grill & Bar and Costa Coffee. 5 of the M1 Motorway. Junction 19 of the M25 Motorway is situated approximately 5 km (3 miles) to the north-west. The property also benefits from being within 100 yards of the main entrance to the towns’ prime shopping centre, "intu Watford". The scheme In addition, the town is connected to the national railway network with comprises 92,903 sq m (1 million sq ft) of retail, catering and leisure space services from London Euston to Watford Junction providing a fastest with a comprehensive range of 140 stores. Key retailers include John journey time of 18 minutes. Watford Underground Station (Metropolitan Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Primark, Zara, H&M, Apple, Next and BHS. "intu Line) offers rapid access to Central London. Furthermore, Watford High Watford" has created a thriving shopping destination with a catchment of Street Station is served by the Watford DC line on the London 5.2 million people, attracting a 17 million annual footfall of shoppers with Overground network. a £25 billion total available retail expenditure. The Croxley Rail Link is the proposed extension of the London "intu" has recently received planning permission to redevelop the adjoining Underground Metropolitan line from Croxley, to Watford Junction via Charter Place shopping centre and substantially refurbish intu Watford. Watford High Street. The project will bring about the return of London intu’s plans will integrate the two adjoining centres, creating a 130,064 sq Underground trains to Watford High Street for the first time in 34 years. m (1.4 million sq ft) retail and leisure destination, which will provide new Construction work on the Scheme, which is due to cost in the region of retail space for brands, a cinema and leisure complex, along with a vibrant £117 million, is due to begin in 2014 and the target date for trains to new restaurant hub. A new public square will also be created that will host start running on the new link is 2017. The Scheme will support economic a diverse events programme, such as street theatre and music shows. The development in Watford by providing first class transport links to central £100 million development is expected to transform the town’s position in London for all of Watford's residents and will supplement existing the UK retail rankings, placing it firmly in the top 20. The proposed passenger services from Watford Junction and Watford High Street. On development will create around 1,125 additional new jobs across the retail, completion of the proposed rail link up to 16 trains an hour will link the hospitality and leisure sectors. Construction is expected to start during town with London. 2015 with the new scheme scheduled to open in 2017. London Luton Airport is approximately 27km (17 miles) to the north and Heathrow Airport is approximately 39 km (24 miles) to the south. Description Royalty House comprises a newly refurbished headquarters office building arranged over ground and four upper floors. There is a secure underground car park accessed via the rear of the property which provides 65 car parking spaces, a ratio of 1:33 sq m / 1:360 sq ft. The property was substantially refurbished in June 2013 at a cost of £2.2 million. This included a complete overhaul of the M&E, replacing the Chillers, Condensers, Air conditioning cassettes and Boilers. Internally, the property has been finished to a Grade A Specification to include the following: Ÿ Portland stone entrance and reception area Ÿ Modern glass balustrade stairwell Site Ÿ 3 pipe VRV air-conditioning Ÿ Fully accessible raised floors We estimate the site area to be approximately 0.08 hectares (0.21 acres). Ÿ Fully addressable Dali lighting system Ÿ 2 x 8-person passenger lifts, accessible from basement car park Ÿ Male & Female WC’s on each floor Planning Ÿ BMS system Ÿ Disabled access, toilet and shower The ground floor currently benefits from valuable A3 consent, although the premises have never actually been used as a restaurant. Planning The contractors, Saracen Interiors, recently won a Gold award at the permission was obtained in May 2013 for "Change of use of 3 retail units Association of Interior Specialists Contractors Awards 2014 for its fit out at (Class A1) to 1 restaurant unit (Class A3) at ground floor". Some physical Royalty House. works relating to this consent were carried out, hence the planning permission has been implemented. As a result, Watford Borough Council Part of the ground floor fronting King Street, adjoining the reception area, has advised that the permission will not expire within the normal 3 year was originally intended for restaurant use prior to the current letting. As the period and will instead remain in perpetuity, enabling a change of use tenant required this areas as offices, the vendor recently converted this from B1 to A3 at any time in the future. accommodation from shell condition into offices to the same standard that already exists in the building. A copy of the specification is available to download. A warranty for the ground floor works is available to the purchaser from the contractor. Tenure Freehold Accommodation The property provides the following accommodation: Tenancy Ground Floor Reception 87 sq m 933 sq ft The property is entirely let to Quindell plc on a Full Repairing and Insuring Ground Floor Offices 423 sq m 4,550 sq ft lease for a term of 10 years from 14th August 2014, expiring 13th August 2024. The initial rent is £491,919 per annum (£10.00 per sq ft on the First Floor Offices 557 sq m 5,990 sq ft ground floor reception and £21.50 per sq ft on the offices). The lease Second Floor Offices 557 sq m 5,990 sq ft benefits from an upwards only rent review on 14th August 2019. Third Floor Offices 467 sq m 5,029 sq ft The tenant has been granted a rent free period of 1 year and 7 days, Fourth Floor Offices 82 sq m 887 sq ft expiring on 20th August 2015. In addition, the annual rent payable by the Total Net Internal Area 2,173 sq m 23,379 sq ft tenant for the second and third year of the lease shall be reduced to £335,745.84 per annum. The vendor will cover this shortfall by way of an adjustment on completion of the sale. Covenant Quindell Plc has reported the following figures: 30th Jun 2014 31st Dec 2013 31st Dec 2012 (Half Year) Group Revenue £357,300,000 £380,131,000 £163,004,000 Pre-Tax Profits £153,600,000 £107,046,000 £35,359,000 Net Assets £929,900,000 £667,518,000 £272,160,000 On 21st August 2014, Quindell announced its interim results for the period ending 30th June 2014. Pre-Tax Profits rose to £153.6 million, nearly tripling from £52.5 million pounds a year earlier. Revenues rose 119% to £357.3 million (2013: £163.3 million). Quindell is currently traded on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and is a provider of sector leading expertise in Software, Consulting and Technology Enabled Outsourcing in its key markets being Insurance, Telecommunications and their Related Sectors. Quindell is recognised as No.1 in insurance technology in Europe, a leader within Usage & Behaviour Based Insurance globally and is the largest technology enabled claims outsourcing business for the UK insurance industry and the only organisation ethically addressing the total cost of claims including personal injury and rehabilitation. Quindell companies have worked with over 1000 brands from small to medium enterprises and blue chip organisations around the globe. Today they count a number of the world’s top Insurance and Telecommunications companies within their customer base, as well as hundreds of customer centric organisations working in both the Market Commentary distribution and supply of their services. Royalty House has been let off a passing rent equating to £21.50 per Quindell have approaching approximately 3,000 staff distributed across sq ft. Headline rents for Grade A space in Watford are currently £23.50 the United Kingdom.