Coffer Corporate Leisure has advised a private client on the investment sale of the commercial units of 38-42 Kingsway, WC2. The properties were sold on a long leasehold basis for a consideration of £6.2 million reflecting a net initial yield of 3.81%.

The properties are let to two high quality tenants, PAUL UK and Bill’s Restaurants, who occupy the ground floor of 38 and the ground, basement and mezzanine of 42 respectively. PAUL is a high end international patisserie operating over 400 sites in 29 countries. Bill’s is an award winning restaurant group backed by highly successful restaurant owner and businessman Richard Caring. The business has been one of the industry’s success stories of recent times having rapidly expanded to now encompass over 45 sites.

Mark Sheehan of Coffer Corporate Leisure said: “This sale generated an unprecedented level of interest from a range of private and institutional investors. We received over a dozen very competitive offers and the process culminated in a competitive bidding scenario which resulted in a sharp yield being achieved.

“Through our expertise in the sector we were able to demonstrate to purchasers that, although evidence to support immediate rental growth is limited, the wider area has significant underlying growth prospects. The phenomenal rents being achieved in Covent Garden are pushing operators further afield and we believe this ripple effect will be felt in fringe locations such as Kingsway.

“The London leisure property investment market is exceptionally hot right now. The time is opportune for long term property owners to exploit the current climate and dispose of prime assets for big prices.

“We are working with a number of London property companies who are looking to monopolise on this demand and extract value from their portfolio by carving out commercial property, particularly restaurants, on long leases and disposing of them for very low yields”