The multi-million sale of a Nottingham shops and offices complex could result in more student flats popping up on a city street already brimming with newly-built accommodation. Huntingdon House, a three-storey retail and office building that stretches from Rick Street to Kent Street in the city centre’s Huntingdon Street, has been put on the market with a minimum price of £2.3 million.
Watling Real Estate has been appointed to sell the leasehold of the U-shaped building, with agents explaining the structure could be redeveloped into student accommodation subject to planning permission. While the property is currently held on on a 125-year lease that started in 1997, Watling Real Estate said it understood freehold owner Nottingham City Council was open to selling the land outright as well.
Estate agents explained the building’s new owner could refurbish it and increase the current rent paid by the office and retail occupiers. They added the property was currently generating a gross rental income of £297,886 per year, with under a third of it being vacant.
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“The property offers various asset management opportunities via rental uplift, refurbishment/redevelopment, and change of use to student, residential or co-living accommodation,” a Watling Real Estate brochure said.
There are four self-contained shop units on the ground floor of the building, with the upper floors providing a mix of open plan and cellular office accommodation. There is also a car park to the rear of the property that has 14 covered spaces.
The property’s marketers explained high demand for student and residential accommodation within Nottingham city centre had resulted in surrounding buildings being changed to house new residents. Huntingdon Street runs across the city centre and is a familiar thoroughfare for many residents, but has changed rapidly in recent years.
While closures like the loss of Aldi, shutting of the Foresters Inn pub, and dereliction of former nightclub Breeze have made a mark, another noticeable change has been the construction of large student accommodation buildings. There is no sign of this development slowing down, as there are hundreds of flats in the planning process along the busy street including a 27-storey student high rise on the former Base 51 site.