Brixton announces nine leasing agreements

UK industrial property REIT Brixton has announced nine new lettings in June totalling 104,000 square feet (9,661 m2) and generating £946,000 (EUR 804,000) of annualised rental income.

The June lettings include Norbert Dentressangle Transport Services taking the 39,461 sq ft Green Lane Cargo Centre at Fairway Trading Estate, Heathrow on a 5-year lease. The terms are subject to a confidentiality agreement. Brixton said the deal was achieved within two months of this unit being surrendered as part of the letting to Airworld Services of 82,683 sq ft at X2, the two-storey warehouse scheme at Heathrow, which was announced on 13 May. This means that 37% of the space returned as part of the X2 transaction has already been re-let.

In addition to these new lettings, Brixton has also completed a reversionary lease with Sainsbury’s Supermarkets at the 32,610 sq ft Hampshire House at Feltham Corporate Centre, Heathrow. The new lease will commence on 25 December 2011 and is for a term of 15 years without break. A rent-free period of 18 months has been granted. The current passing rent is £325,000 pa which equates to £9.97 per sq ft. The rent will be reviewed at day 1 of the new lease on an upward-only basis with the increase in rent not to exceed 10% of the current passing rent.

Since the beginning of the year, Brixton has let nearly 450,000 sq ft of space and created nearly £4.4 mln of annualised rental income. 'This compares favourably with the second half of 2008 when the corresponding figures were 310,000 sq ft and £2.8m,' Brixton said.

CEO Peter Dawson added: 'We outlined in March our focus on increasing income and this is beginning to reap benefits. The quality of the Brixton portfolio together with our proactive approach to leasing and customer retention means we can create new customer relationships and extend existing ones to achieve this increase in income.'