Client: The Co-operative Group
A change in business strategy led our client, the Co-operative Group, to vacate its retail warehouse in Norwich only one year after signing a 25-year lease.
The timing could hardly have been more problematic. The lease coincided with the valuation date for the 2000 Rating List and the rent under the new lease fully supported the assessment of £720,000.
Co-op was seeking to mitigate the costs of the newly vacant space by subletting the property, but the property proved to be unlettable.
In this instance, four factors conspired to keep new tenants away. First, it wasn’t possible to remove a bulky goods planning consent and second, the warehouse could not be sublet in part only. Other vacant units were available on the Park and finally, there was a sheer lack of demand for a unit of this size in the area.
So it was a particularly welcome success for our client when we reduced the assessment to £430,000, saving our client £250,000 including 50% empty rates relief throughout the entire rating list.
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