Price dropped on £4m city centre landmark building

Waterloo Court in Wolverhampton was put up for sale at the end of August but remains on the market four months on – while the owner of another city centre property, Telecom House, is also waiting for the right offer.

West Bromwich-based Bond Wolfe has dropped the price of Waterloo Court to £3.2m, a reduction of £800,000, or 20 per cent of the original sale price.

The property, on the ring road, is made up of six floors of office accommodation, a reception and a 77-space car park.

The current landlord rakes in more than £359,000 per year in rent according the the Rightmove website. The property is currently 95 per cent let to 14 tenants, including Leonard Cheshire Disability, Gap Personnel and Eos Wolverhampton, with three vacant suites.

Almost two-thirds of tenants have been there for more than 10 years, with several renewing or regearing in the past two years. Further discussions are ongoing with two prospective tenants and other existing tenants with leases close to expiry, according to rightmove.

An advert for the property on Waterloo Road suggests the annual rental income could be boosted by re-branding or regearing leases to extend the average lease term.

The building has two lifts which serve all floors but the top, accessed via a staircase. There are also kitchen and staff facilities, as well as toilets, on each floor. Parking is accessed from Clarence Road, through a security gate with intercom facilities.

Speaking when it first went up for sale, Councillor Roger Lawrence said the building looked tired and hoped to see an investor keen to look after the building for a long period, as well as make upgrades.

He said: “It’s not unusual for properties to go up for sale and for landlords to make their money.

“I think there will be plenty of interest from institutional investors. You’re looking at a 10 per cent return which I think is around about right.

“When it is bought, the new landlord will probably look at the leases of businesses that are there and how long they have to run. It’s probably fair to say that the building is looking a bit tired from the outside, so I’d be hoping that the new landlord would be looking to upgrade it.

“Hopefully someone buys it who wants to have it for a long time. There is still a buoyant interest in office accommodation in the city centre which is always good to see.”

Permission was granted in the summer to convert the former BT headquarters on St John’s Ring Road in Wolverhampton into 100 flats.

A deadline for bids on six-storey Telecom House, which dates back to the 1970s, passed in August with the owners asking for £3m. Harris Lamb, marketing the building, said there was a lot of early interest, with student accommodation one of the likely options for use.