Client: Tarmac Southern
Building materials supplier Tarmac Southern had a 2.6-acre freehold industrial site in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, which was surplus to requirements. They instructed Gerald Eve’s business space team to market the site and, within four months, an acceptable offer was received.
However, another division of Tarmac then expressed a need for the site and it was withdrawn from the market. Six months later, it again became surplus to requirements and was remarketed by Gerald Eve. Another buyer was found within a matter of months and at the same level as previously.
Private construction company A J Morrisroe and Sons paid £1 million for the site, which has a restrictive covenant enabling it to be used only for open storage. The high value of the land reflects the relative scarcity of open storage sites, which tend to be redeveloped for small freehold warehouses, start-up units and even housing, where permitted.
Even without the restrictive covenant, the Ampthill land would be difficult to develop given its lack of prominence.
For A J Morrisroe and Sons, however, the site is ideally located, given its current project portfolio, which includes schemes in central London and Essex.
Gerald Eve therefore succeeded in bringing forward a suitable buyer for this scarce but restricted site within a short timescale and achieved the level of value that the client had hoped for.
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