Orchard Street Investment Management has completed the first acquisition on behalf of its £400m inaugural impact fund, purchasing Euroway Trade Park in Aylesford for an undisclosed price.
The Orchard Street Social and Environmental Impact Partnership fund acquired the 89,000 sq ft multi-let industrial estate, which comprises seven units, from a private vendor.
Five of the units have lease expiries within the next 12 months, offering Orchard Street the ability to grow rental income in the short-term and improve the sustainability credentials of the estate in line with the fund’s impact objectives.
Orchard Street intends to install solar PV panels, EV charging hubs and electrify all units across the estate to improve the EPC ratings to A and A+ from the current C to E ratings.
Barney Rowe, portfolio manager of the impact fund at Orchard Street Investment Management, said: “This first acquisition made on behalf of our impact fund represents an excellent opportunity to generate strong financial returns alongside a significant positive social and environmental impact on behalf of our investors.
“We strongly believe that assets which offer high quality space and boast strong sustainability credentials will command the best rents and values, and this well-located, multi-let asset provides us with numerous opportunities to reposition the estate into a best-in-class industrial property.”
Harry Buxton, associate at Orchard Street Investment Management, added: “We are delighted to have concluded our acquisition of Euroway Trade Park in Aylesford. The property’s low passing rent, its under-supplied location supported by robust occupier demand, and its short income profile offer us the ability to future-proof the property whilst capturing the highly reversionary rents in the near term. We have a very active ongoing requirement for value-add opportunities across all property sectors with significant capital ready to deploy today.”
Orchard Street was advised by M1. The vendor was advised by Knight Frank.
