Leeds City Council secures 'triple-win'

A multi-million pound property deal has been hailed as a “triple win” for Leeds City Council and its work delivering frontline services to local people.

The council has completed the sale of four modern industrial and logistics units within the Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone for a price of £29.3m.

The sale of the fully-let assets provides a financial gain to the council of around £14m over the original purchase price.

Councillor Debra Coupar, deputy leader of Leeds City Council and executive member for resources, said: “This sale is a triple win for the council. Firstly, we have made prudent investments in our enterprise zone to help grow our local economy at a time when the market was stalled.

“Secondly, in doing so we have been able to deliver a substantial commercial return and, thirdly, we will be able to reinvest this to help support frontline services to the people of Leeds. The enterprise zone is now firmly established as a premier business location.”

The units are located in the Logic Leeds area of the enterprise zone, with three of them having been built on behalf of the council.

Known as Building One, Unit 5, Unit 6 and Unit 7, they offer their tenants a total of around 180,000 sq ft of floor space.

All four have been sold to a single undisclosed purchaser, advised by Savills. The council was advised by commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Richard Brooke, partner at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “This transaction represents a truly prime deal for our region. Whilst the sale is the conclusion of the council’s property strategy for these units, I am confident that the asset will continue to perform well for its new owners. Occupational demand in this location is strong and availability remains at an all-time low across West Yorkshire which continues to drive rental performance.

“It was a pleasure to work with Leeds City Council on this sale. The transaction is a prime example of Cushman & Wakefield’s continued commitment to assisting local authorities in the delivery of their property strategies.”

Established to drive economic growth and jobs creation, the Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone sits at junction 45 of the M1 and is now a proven location for businesses operating in fields such as manufacturing, logistics and distribution. Logic Leeds is one of four sites in the enterprise zone that between them cover a combined 142 hectares of prime development land.