Southeast law firm Moore Barlow has advised Sixpenny Group on the sale of the Gemstone Building, at Manor Royal in Crawley, to CBRE Global Investors for £47.7 million.
Surrey-based property investment firm Sixpenny Group bought the site, which used to be the headquarters of the of Virgin Group, in 2021 and redeveloped it in to an 82,000-square-foot warehouse and let it to delivery company EVRI (formerly Hermes UK).
The development includes over 20 docking bays and will play a significant part in Evri’s distribution network across Surrey and the surrounding areas, doubling their capacity to process 200,000+ parcels a day.
Moore Barlow’s commercial property team advised on both the purchase and sale of the site and its letting to Evri.
CBRE Global Investors is a worldwide leader in commercial real estate services and investments with more than $146.9 billion of assets under management.
Commenting on the sale, Egor Shestakov, of Sixpenny Group said: “The sale of the Manor Royal site concludes more than 14 months of strategic work which involved the purchase and demolition of the existing building, as well as securing a long-term tenant and overseeing the new warehouse development.
“This is a landmark investment project for Sixpenny and our development partners and we will continue to seek new real estate opportunities that create sustainable, long-term value.”
The deal was led by Richard Hughes, partner in the commercial property team at Moore Barlow, assisted by Associate Callum Leary.
Richard added: “This project is testament to Sixpenny Group’s strong eye for real estate opportunities and the expertise of their development partner, Arcus-pcd. Sixpenny had the foresight to invest in the site and reinvent it as a warehouse unit, recognising the growing demand for logistics facilities.
“Demand for logistics hub developments has intensified since the pandemic as consumer purchasing habits continue to shift online. The new state-of-the-art warehouse development for Evri will continue to support the business’s expansion in the region and meet customer demand as its approaches the busy autumn and winter trading periods.”
Richard is based in Moore Barlow’s London office in Cheapside, one of the six the firm has across the Southeast of England including Guildford, Southampton and Richmond.
Gordons acted for Evri and Dentons acted for CBRE.
The firm’s commercial property team supports clients in London and along the M3 corridor, as well as around the South Coast.
