Aviva seeks £20m for Leeds offices

Knight Frank is handling the sale of the 91,000 sq ft Hepworth House, situated on Clay Pit Lane.

The three-storey property is currently vacant, but let to Capita Customer Management until 2037. A sale at £20m would reflect a net initial yield of 8.49%.

Sitting on 1.2 acres, the building has a basement, a ground level car park with 90 spaces, and an open plan layout.

It is located opposite Leeds Arena and close to both the city’s universities, in an area which has seen a significant rise in student accommodation.

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Originally built in 1891 as a clothing factory for Joseph Hepworth, the building was later occupied by Next before being converted into offices in the mid 1990s. Capita used it as a call centre.

Graham Foxton, partner at Knight Frank, said: “Hepworth House is a rare opportunity to buy long dated, indexed linked income with a huge upside potential for PBSA development in the future, underwriting the site value.

“Land has been at a premium in this area and this will give an investor a fantastic return, leading nicely into the next development cycle in the beds sector in our market.”