3 March 2021

Newcore Capital Management, the social infrastructure investment manager, has concluded £30 million of real estate transactions as part of its ongoing social infrastructure strategy.

Newcore has acquired nearly £16 million of employment land, early years education and self-storage properties and sold £14 million of development, strategic and agricultural land along with an office building.

The acquisitions were from a mix of private and public sector vendors for Newcore Strategic Situations IV LP, its £150 million value-add fund, and a core-plus £50 million UK family office segregated account managed by Newcore. They comprise:

• 20 acres over two sites of existing research and development and energy storage land in Hillingdon, west London, for £8.2 million; Newcore will promote the sites to occupiers in the energy, waste and specialist storage sectors

• a further two properties for £5.1 million for Newcore’s Greater London early years education portfolio, taking the total number of sites to 12, which are leased to national nursery groups, including Bright Horizons, N Family, Monkey Puzzle, Banana Moon and All About the Children; the largest of the two acquisitions is the 11,000 sq ft former Mander Organs’ organ manufacturing and repair works in Bethnal Green, which Newcore will reposition for educational and healthcare uses.
• a self-storage facility in Chesham, let to J&R Self-Storage, acquired for £2.4 million 

The sales comprise:

• strategic land across five sites in the south east and West Midlands, where Newcore has achieve planning consents, for a total of £9.8 million; the sites include four acres in Coventry with outline planning consent for 40 houses, sold to Bellway Homes for £1.9 million, and a consented 64-bed care home near Winchester, sold to Barchester Healthcare for £2.85 million  

• a 22,000 sq ft office building in the centre of Bristol, which has been positioned for student accommodation development and sold to a local developer for £4.05 million

The transactions follow a very active year for Newcore in the volatile market brought about by the pandemic. Since March 2020, Newcore Strategic Situations IV LP acquired 11 assets, of which six were off market and three completed within 10 business days; carried out 28 new lettings, lease renewals and lease regears, which generated an additional £2.5 million of annual rental income; and submitted seven planning applications, of which three have already obtained consent.

Harry Savory, chief investment officer of Newcore, said: “We are pleased with the progress of Newcore’s investment programme during 2020 and the performance of our existing portfolio through lockdown, which has been largely unaffected by issues facing other sectors, given the needs-based strategy. We are very much in the market during 2021 for similar asset purchases”.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Newcore Capital Management

Newcore Capital Management is an independent, management-owned, UK real estate investment management business. Led by CEO, Hugo Llewelyn, Newcore invests in UK assets that it believes are central to the continuing physical needs of society and are, therefore, likely to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns over the medium to long term. These “new core” asset classes are described as social infrastructure and linked to sectors such as education, healthcare, waste management, life sciences and roadside uses.

Newcore is a B Corporation, the first dedicated UK real estate investment manager to have become one, and manages around £250 million of capital on behalf of institutional, pension fund and private clients through funds and segregated accounts.