A building in Belfast housing HSBC’s only remaining branch in NI is on sale for £4.85m – more than 25% below what it was bought for.
Seller Cordatus Real Estate, a Scottish fund, had acquired Avenue House on the corner of Royal Avenue and Rosemary Street for £6.6m in May 2016.
Lender HSBC is on the ground floor but is due to move to a new site on Donegall Place next year.
Mark Riddell, a partner at selling agents Cushman & Wakefield, said it was hard to predict the level of interest in the building. “We will have to see how the market reacts. It’s an improving area and hopefully the market responds.”
A brochure for the property described it as having a “prominent location” in the city centre, with it earning £473,700 per annum.
It said it would benefit from the additional footfall, including the presence of students, from the new Ulster University campus.
Other nearby sites include Belfast City Council’s proposed Belfast Stories visitor centre.
The brochure said new retail openings nearby, including at CastleCourt Shopping Centre, would also bring a big improvement to the area.
“The immediate area is undergoing a transformation following the opening of the new university campus and extensive developments adjacent to the campus.
“This has led to a significant increase in footfall which has been underpinned by a number of new lettings in CastleCourt including The Avenue Cinema, Starbucks, TK Maxx and Poundland.
“New occupiers along the high street pitch in the surrounding area include JD Sports, Apple, River Island and Primark Home due to open on Donegall Place imminently.
“This all underscores the improving nature of the location.”
Primark Home is due to open at Fountain House, a site it first occupied on a temporary basis after a devastating fire at its main Belfast site in 2018.
Cushamn & Wakefield described Avenue house as a mixed-use retail and office investment across five floors in total.
HSBC occupies 5,300 sq ft on the ground floor, with Law Society Financial Advice on the first floor. Customer management business Intelling has 8,000 sq ft on the second and third floor building and MGN Limited occupies 4,000 sq ft on the fourth floor.
Earlier this year, HSBC confirmed plans to leave its Avenue House unit and take up space in Donegall Place – formerly the home of fashion retailer River Island – next year.
According to a report by commercial property agents CBRE NI, the market for investments in commercial property in the third quarter of 2024 slowed down in response to political and economic uncertainties.
There was just £4.2m of deals agreed in the third quarter, bringing the total for the year to £87.5m, a 68% decrease on the same period last year.
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News Catch up – Tuesday 3 December