Our aptitude for recognising unseen potential and secondary value is exemplified by this project in Newbury, Berkshire.

Given the large service yard and car park that came with this high street retail shop, we could immediately see a development opportunity..

Situated in central Newbury the retail parade, with Iceland as its anchor tenant, was burdened with an unsightly 1960s office block on the first floor.

In order to stabilise income from the retail unit and create more frontage for another retail unit, we made the decision to demolish the offices above.

This removed the empty rates, and allowed us to create 15 more car parking spaces to the rear.

The removal of the ground floor office entrance allowed us to create another valuable shop unit and we were then able to renegotiate a lease with Iceland, taking into account the increased number of parking spaces to the rear, creating a much stronger investment.

The previous owners had only seen a complicated, empty 1960s office building with car parking for the office building and the Iceland store.

What they had missed was the opportunity to remove the offices and build over the whole site, creating the conditions for a potential residential scheme.

We obtained planning permission for a new scheme containing 25,000 sq ft of residential and 15,000 sq ft of retail, allowing us to sell the site with a massive premium on its purchase price, due to its increased value to developers.

A major residential scheme has now been implemented on the site. ​

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