BT’s Leeds base up for sale
Offers of £40m are being sought for the 139,000 sq ft One Sovereign Street office building, which CBRE has been instructed to sell.
Close to Leeds railway station, the building was purpose-built for the communications giant, and remains single-let to the organisation with an unexpired lease term of 12.3 years. CBRE is selling the building on behalf of a private client.
Completed in 2002, the triangular building is arranged over eight storeys, including two basement levels, with a central atrium.
RPI-linked rent reviews are set for September 2025 and September 2030 for the 139,079 sq ft building,
Surrounding occupiers include Addleshaw Goddard, KPMG, Leeds Building Society and Asda on a part of the city centre that sits close to the various BTR schemes being advanced in the South Bank district, including L&G’s Tower Works project.
BT is looking to be net-zero as a business by 2031 and is amid a real estate programme including moves in several locations to buildings with strong sustainability credentials, including New Bailey in Salford and Sheffield’s Digital Campus, where practical completion is due this month. The EPC rating of One Sovereign Street at present is C.
The passing annual rent of £2.87m equates to a rent of £19.40 per sq ft, some way below the grade A headline rents of £36 per sq ft being achieved elsewhere in Leeds city centre.
A sale at £40m would reflect a day one net initial yield of 6.72%.
