Newport's iconic Clarence House sold for £4m16th April 2013

Newport's iconic Clarence House is in new hands after the 11-storey office block was bought at auction in London for just under £4m.

The tower block at Clarence Place, Newport, opposite the city’s historic art college building and overlooking Rodney Parade, has been bought by a London based property investment firm.

The building, which has uninterrupted views of the city of Newport, the River Usk and the surrounding area, was sold at auction in London by Allsops for just under £4m reflecting a Gross Initial Yield of 19.43 %.

David Jones, of Hutchings & Thomas Chartered Surveyors who are based in the building and were joint auctioneers for the sale, said: “There was keen interest from both home and abroad in acquiring the building before it went to auction, which is very encouraging for the city of Newport.

“The new owners, plan to make improvements both internally and externally to the building to boost its overall appeal to existing and prospective occupiers, and have stressed their willingness to carry out works to meet occupier requirements.”

Large screen plasma TV’s are to be installed in common areas on each of the floors, the adjoining multi storey car park space is to be improved and a gym for the use of occupiers is being installed on the first floor.

One of the first steps taken by the new owners is to reduce the rent afforded to new occupants of the 100,000 sq ft block of a market leading £5 per sq ft for an introductory period of 12 months.

David Jones said: “This market leading rent is aimed at attracting start ups and those looking to take their business to the next stage, to consider locating to Clarence House. We believe this very competitive rent could prove most attractive to businesses and individuals who may currently be looking at quality office space in Cardiff or Bristol.

“Clarence House is currently two thirds occupied by a number of blue chip clients including the courts service, GXS, AC Nielson and local and national politicians. There is some 30,000 sq ft available predominantly on floors 8, 9 and 10.”

Hutchings and Thomas are joint letting agents with Savills on Clarence House.