An industrial estate comprising 12 units totalling 121,780 sq ft on Compton Industrial Estate in Eastbourne has been acquired by a £150m multi-let urban logistics investment fund.

Managed by property investment company JR Capital and asset manager Chancerygate, the fund acquired the industrial estate from a joint venture between commercial property business Canmoor and investment company JCAM for £13.7m. This reflects a net initial yield of 7%.

Compton Industrial Estate is situated one-and-a-half miles from Eastbourne town centre and benefits from close proximity to the A22 and A27.

The 12 units range from 3,555 sq ft to 22,785 sq ft. Current occupiers include East Sussex County Council, Eastbourne Coach Furnishers, Williams Trade Suppliers and Howdens Joinery.

JR Capital’s CEO, John Collier-Wright commented: “Eastbourne is the third acquisition for the new fund in as many months and it presented us with a good opportunity to allocate capital to the south coast, a region underpinned by strong occupational demand, a lack of available units and very few new developments in the pipeline.”

“The estate offers well diversified and reversionary income, with short term opportunities to add value by refurbishing and re-letting units. It is well positioned for growth over the next cycle.”

JR Capital and Chancerygate’s £150m fund has a five-year life and is targeting industrial, warehousing and urban logistics investments across the UK in lot sizes of £5m to £15m.

The partners’ first fund, which totalled £100m, secured 18 assets ranging from Dundee to Exeter over a two-year period. The assets comprised 150 units totalling more than one million sq ft.

Commenting on the acquisition, Chancerygate asset management director, George Jerram, said: “Our latest acquisition sits in one of Eastbourne’s prime industrial locations and reflects the strong confidence we have in the local market for urban logistics accommodation.

“There remains strong demand for urban logistics property both regionally and nationally. Compton Industrial Estate is a key opportunity to expand the geographical spread of our portfolio with a well-established, strategically located asset.” 

London-based JR Capital is a multi-family office business with a focus on UK and European real estate. The business provides a platform for its Middle East-based private and institutional investor base principally from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai, and Kuwait to co-invest into both UK and European real estate via funds and segregated mandates.

Established in 2005 by John Collier-Wright, JR Capital has concluded over £2bn of transactions across all major sectors.

Founded in 1995, Chancerygate is the UK’s largest urban logistics property developer and asset manager and the only one operating nationwide.

The company currently manages in excess of £385m of assets across more than five million sq ft of commercial space in over 480 units.

Gerald Eve acted on behalf of Chancerygate and JR Capital, while TT & G Partners acted for Canmoor and JCAM.