M7 Real Estate enters Northern Ireland with Belfast office acquisition

London, 18 July 2018 – M7 Real Estate (“M7”), the pan-European investor and asset manager, has acquired an office property at 20 Adelaide Street, Belfast for £2.4 million, on behalf of M7 Real Estate Investment Partners III (“M7 REIP III”). The asset, which comprises 21,021 sq ft, represents M7’s first investment in Northern Ireland and is being acquired from receivers Ernst and Young following a two-stage bidding process.

M7 will carry out a full-scale refurbishment of the property, which has 86% vacancy with only the ground floor occupied, in order to modernise and improve the quality of the accommodation, as well as to create a new proposition for the Belfast office market. The specification includes a design led modern reception space, raised floors, cycle storage, shower facilities and a new air conditioning system.

The property is located in Belfast City Centre in the heart of the capital’s central business district. Adelaide Street links to Donegall Square and Belfast City Hall to the north and Ormeau Avenue to the south. The asset is also positioned near to Belfast’s major retailing hub, Victoria Square, which is located 0.4 miles to the north east.

M7 REIP III, which has a total portfolio size of 520,203 sq ft, has a Value Add-led strategy and targets assets that offer both sustainable income streams and asset management opportunities in the retail, office and the multi-let industrial sectors in the UK.

Sheridan Property Consultants acted for M7.

John Murnaghan, Head of UK Real Estate at M7, commented, “We have been tracking the Belfast office market for some time as we see areas of value both because of the supply/demand imbalance but also the macro economic conditions. We have been waiting for a value add opportunity like Adelaide Street to come up for some time so we can apply our asset management expertise. We expect the office market in the north of Ireland, which saw take up of 22% above the five-year average in 2017 to continue to perform strongly. This is a really exciting project in a new territory for us and we look forward to launching the refurbished space to the market at the end of this year.”