10:03 am, February 17, 2022
A car showroom used by Johnsons Volkswagen has sold for an eye-watering price of £15m.
The 52,000 square foot dealership was owned by LondonMetric Property who then leased it to dealer group Johnsons for an annual rent of £800,000.
However, the property firm has now decided the time is right to dispose of the Solihull showroom in order to invest elsewhere.
The site has been sold to the Savills IM Fund with terms agreed in December of last year.
The completion of the sale has been delayed until the end of April, meaning LondonMetric will receive a further £200,000 in rent from Johnsons.
As part of the deal, Johnsons will continue to lease the premises for a further 17 years.
The money will cover a separate acquisition by LondonMetric, of a 40,000 square foot retail space in Birmingham.
The unit, which is leased by Currys and Dunelm, cost the property firm £8m.
Andrew Jones, CEO of LondonMetric, said: ‘We identified the Solihull property as a non-core asset at the time of purchase.
‘We have taken advantage of the strong appetite for long let income to swiftly dispose of the property at a premium.
‘The proceeds of the sale have been reinvested into a better located property offering a significantly higher yield with material asset management potential.’
