Business

Landmark Boat building goes on market for £8.5m

The Boat and Lifeboat building in Belfast have gone on the market for £8.5 million
The Boat and Lifeboat building in Belfast have gone on the market for £8.5 million The Boat and Lifeboat building in Belfast have gone on the market for £8.5 million

THE iconic 14-storey Boat building and adjacent 11-floor Lifeboat building on the banks of the Lagan in Belfast have gone on sale for £8.5 million.

The landmark property, completed less than 10 years ago, comprises office, residential and restaurant uses.

Commercial property consultancy McKibbin has brought the investment opportunity to the market.

"The sale provides a prospective purchaser with the opportunity to acquire one of the most admired properties in Belfast," a spokesman for McKibbin said.

The Boat, winner of a global architectural award in 2011, comprises 10 floors of grade A offices and eight exclusive waterside apartments (which are not included in this sale).

The Lifeboat annexe houses a high quality mixed-oriental restaurant on ground and first floors, seven floors of grade A offices and a duplex apartment on floors 10 and 11.

The purchaser will acquire the freehold of the entire property including the apartments and the ninth floors which have been sold on long leasehold interests.

The property has an income from a number of top quality covenants of more than £570,000 a year, and there are a number of asset management opportunities.

Tenants in the building include SpotXchange, Grafton Recruitment, The British Council, Bar Library Services and Mott McDonald.

Those tenants are paying rents ranging from £12.22 to £20.18 per square foot.

However, rent reviews are due for a number of existing tenants next year and 2020, and the overall net yield is set to increase to up to 7 per cent.