Manchester Corn Exchange on sale for £43m

Aviva Investors has put the leisure and hospitality scheme on the market for £24m less than what it paid for the property in 2005.

JLL and KLM Real Estate are accepting offers of more than £42.85m for the grade two-listed building on behalf of Aviva. Purchasing at the guide price represents a net initial yield of 6.41%.

The building is 93% let, with 18 leases providing a net operating income of around £2.9m per year. The WAULT to expiry for the leases is 16.9 years.

Aviva fund Norwich Property Trust bought the property from Blackstone Group and Milligan Retail Resorts in 2005 for £67m. At the time, the Corn Exchange was a shopping centre with more than 190,000 sq ft of retail space. It was known as The Triangle.

Aviva set about engaging in a £30m restoration and transformation project to turn the shopping centre into a dining destination and 114-bed hotel.

Current restaurant tenants include Doner Haus, Tampopo, The Real Greek and Mowgli. The hotel is operated by Roomzzz, while Escape Hunt runs an escape room activity in the building.

The Corn Exchange is located at Exchange Square. Metis and Cushman & Wakefield are the joint letting agents for the property.