Buyer sought for 1,900-acre Eryri estate
Christie & Co has been tasked with finding a taker for a swathe of North West Wales’ UNESCO-listed slate landscape, including both the Ffestiniog Quarry and the more recent Zip World attraction.
Established in 1836, the 1,900-acre freehold estate is centred around the historic quarry and forms part of the UNESCO Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, in the heart of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park.
Prices are available on application from Christie & Co for an estate that brings in around £650,000 in rent per year.
At present, the estate hosts trading businesses including the 24-bedroom Plas Weunydd Hotel, year-round glamping accommodation, two hydroelectric power stations and a specialist cheese storage operation, for Snowdonia Cheese Company.
The estate also benefits from a number of occupational tenants led by adventure tourism operator Zip World, which has a lease running up to 2056.
Other occupiers include Northern Welsh Quarries, which continues a near 200-year legacy of slate processing on the site, and Antur Stiniog, one of Europe’s best-known downhill mountain bike centres.
The estate also includes a subterranean environment with around 250 historic chambers and 25 miles of underground tunnels.
Christie & Co said that identifiable growth opportunities include additional hotel accommodation, wellness-led tourism concepts, optimisation of the hydroelectric operations and future rental growth linked to increasing visitor numbers across the wider destination.
Alastair Altham, the company’s chairman and descendant of the site’s founder, said, “We are profitable, successful and immensely proud of the business we have rebuilt over the last decade.
“It is time for the business to expand and develop for the next phase of its long and distinguished history, an expansion that will require new capital and therefore new shareholders.”
Altham’s Linkedin profile describes him, along with other positions, as chairman of JW Greaves & Sons, a North Wales business with interests in land-owning, slate quarrying, power generation, and adventure tourism, with 250,000+ visitors a year.
Tom Glanvill, head of leisure brokerage at Christie & Co, said: “We are excited to bring this exceptional opportunity to the market and expect to receive interest from a wide range of possible buyers.
“The property has a unique blend of industrial history, a vast acreage, strong passive revenue streams, renewable energy income and a hotel in one of the United Kingdom’s most beautiful National Parks.”
Jonathan Watson, director for investments at Christie & Co, added: “From an investment perspective, opportunities of this nature are exceptionally rare. The site combines contracted rental income, operational earnings and multiple avenues for future growth within a single asset.
“The diversity of income streams, together with the scale of the landholding and the estate’s unique heritage credentials, is expected to attract interest from investors, family offices and leisure operators alike.”
The opportunity is being offered freehold, with offers invited.
