Edinburgh’s only Wickes store gains new owner in deal attracting 'high level of interest'

Edinburgh’s only Wickes superstore has changed hands in a £6 million deal that reinforces the appeal of urban retail warehousing for investors.

The store on the city’s Stevenson Road is let to the building supplies provider on a long-term lease and had been marketed for just over £5.6m. It has been acquired by a UK-based family trust. Property consultancy Knight Frank acted for the vendor, a UK property fund, with the deal representing a net initial yield of 5.1 per cent.

Property agents said the building had attracted a “high level of interest”, with six bids at its closing date. The five underbidders were all Scottish high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs, they noted.

Alasdair Steele, head of Scotland commercial at Knight Frank, said: “There was a relatively deep buyer pool for 45 Stevenson Road given its location, long-term income potential, and the strength of its sole occupier. It is relatively rare an asset like this comes to the market, but we expect similar opportunities to emerge in the months ahead. For family trusts and high-net-worth individuals, wealth preservation is a big motivator in the current macroeconomic environment. The Wickes building is a great example of a property that can act as a hedge against inflation through an attractive level of income while preserving capital.”

The store building on Edinburgh's Stevenson Road is let to Wickes on a long-term lease.

A report earlier this year from Knight Frank suggested that rental growth in Scotland’s industrial and logistics sector will outpace both offices and retail property assets over the next five years. According to the study, the Central Belt will have higher than average industrial property rental growth.