The former Cardiff home of Welsh composer and film actor Ivor Novello has been sold for close to the asking price of £350,000 to property investment company, RPA Investments Ltd.
Acting for the landlord, Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) negotiated the sale of Novello House, 11 Cathedral Road, which is to be leased as office space by two separate organisations, Richard Parfitt Associates and Hidden Hearing.
The three storey period building has recently undergone a programme of refurbishment by the new owners and will be fully occupied by two new tenants upon completion.
Richard Parfitt Associates, which is a firm of quantity surveyors and project managers will occupy 2,560 sq ft of space on a ten year lease on the first and second floors from February 2013, relocating from temporary premises in Llandaff. Hidden Hearing, the hearing impaired specialists, have also taken a ten year lease and will move in later this month (January).
RPA Investments Ltd were represented by Emanuel Jones. Ian Parfitt, RPA’s director, said: “With 16 properties in our commercial portfolio, which includes three further buildings in Cardiff, this is a key acquisition for us particularly given the significance of the property’s local heritage.
“We have applied our asset management skills, quickly and sympathetically refurbishing it to expand the available space thereby securing two tenants whose needs the building seems to suit perfectly.”
Dave Blyth of LSH said: “Cathedral Road has traditionally formed a popular sub-office market to the central office core and this sale is indicative of how attractive it continues to be for smaller professional occupiers.”
Ivor Novello, who was born in 1893, lived at 11 Cathedral Road as a child after his family moved from a house on Cowbridge Road as his mother needed somewhere bigger in order to house her collection of pianos. It is thought Ivor Novello composed the famous song Keep the Home Fires Burning while living at 11 Cathedral Road.
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