The Coventry shop that’s up for sale for £1m

The three-storey premises goes under the hammer later this month



A prime retail premises in Coventry city centre is going under the hammer - and it could fetch more than £1m.

The three-storey unit at 82/92 Lower Precinct will be one of the star lots in Bond Wolfe Auction’s next auction in Birmingham later this month.

The property, which has a guide price of £999,000+, extends to around 20,565 sq ft.

It is currently let to the British Heart Foundation.

The charity currently has a rent-free deal but would-be investors have been told the rent will eventually become £160,000 per annum.

The charity is six months into a 12-year contract, with a rent-free period until this August, then half rent until August 2022 when the full annual rent starts.

The full rent will equate to a yield of 16% if the property sells for its guide price of £999,000+ at the auction taking place at Villa Park on Thursday February 27.

It should be pointed out that the guide price is only an indication of what the property will fetch and not the reserve price.

Ian Tudor, managing director of Bond Wolfe Auctions, said: “This is an excellent commercial investment opportunity in the heart of Coventry city centre, within the popular Lower Precinct shopping centre.

“This is one of Coventry’s leading shopping destinations, hosting over 25% of the city centre’s retail stores and welcoming approximately 200,000 shoppers each week.”

Mr Tudor added: “Current brands in Lower Precinct include Next, H&M, New Look, Pandora, Lush, The Entertainer, Caffe Nero and Pizza Hut, so the property is set to continue experiencing high footfall.

“The British Heart Foundation is an excellent tenant with a total income of £168 million last year, and it is also the UK’s largest charity retailer, generating a profit of £22.9m in 2019.

“Once the charity starts paying full rent, there are the opportunities of further reviews in years five and 10, while the leasehold itself has more than 36 years unexpired.”

Why would the charity start paying full rent when they could easily move to another abandoned building?