M7 fully lets Air Cargo Centre, Castle Donnington, setting record new headline

M7 Real Estate (“M7”) the pan-European investor and asset manager, announces that it has completed five new lettings totalling c. 50,500 sq ft at the Air Cargo Centre in Castle Donnington, which is now at full occupancy, on behalf of a global institutional investor.

The asset, which comprises a total of c.142,000 sq ft of industrial space, was acquired as part of the M Portfolio from Commercial Estates Group in October 2018. The property, which is located adjacent to East Midlands Airport, had a vacancy rate of 31.4% across four units totalling c.44,500 sq ft with a further two units totalling c. 6,000 sq ft becoming vacant shortly after.

M7 identified an opportunity to significantly improve the occupancy and grow the rental income. It undertook an asset management programme to refurbish space and convert c. 10,600 sq ft of office space to warehousing, while also improving the landscaping surrounding the units.

This led to recent lettings with DHL, HGV Direct and Norsk, setting a new record rent for the asset of £7.95 per sq ft, an increase on the previous average passing rent of c. £6.50 per sq ft. The WALT of the property has increased to five years and is underpinned by strong tenant covenants.

James Chasen, Asset Manager at M7, commented: “In just six months we have turned around the performance of this asset, leasing all the vacant space to achieve 100% occupancy on what is a unique asset for this strategy. We have leveraged our asset management expertise to capitalise on the Air Cargo Centre’s attractive location next to East Midlands Airport to secure a number of high-profile occupiers seeking air side facilities for their delivery networks.”