Galliard Group woos buy-to-let investors with workspaces

Galliard Group has launched a new £100m business to provide affordable workspace across London and the South East. The business, called Evolve, will offer investors the chance to purchase workspace units for rental investment and start-up, and established companies the opportunity to rent or acquire small or medium-sized units. It will be led by Galliard’s operations director, Richard Conway, and development director Andrew Endean. The first Evolve scheme is located just outside Colchester town centre on a 5.7-acre site. Within a 50,000 sq ft two-storey development, Galliard is offering 90 workspace units ranging from 395 sq ft up to 1,358 sq ft in size and five other stand-alone traditional office buildings. The development also provides meeting rooms and a gymnasium. It will be launched to the market at the end of the week. The workspace units start from £99,000 to purchase a virtual freehold/999-year lease unit, while units will be available from £150 per week (£3 per sq ft service charge). In terms of rental return, the units at Colchester have a projected gross yield of 8%. A further two projects are already in the planning pipeline at Milton Keynes and Watford. At Milton Keynes, Galliard is proposing to create 90 small business units on a 2.19-acre site within a 50,000 sq ft development, and in Watford – on a 1.5-acre existing commercial site – the refurbishment of 21 commercial premises and the creation of 12 new workspace units with another 12 office workspaces created from commercial container units within a 36,000 sq ft development. The Watford project is expected to launch late this year and the Milton Keynes development is slated to be launched next year. All three projects have been designed by Bowman Riley, and investors or businesses can choose from two fit-out options. Galliard said it had seen “a significant increase” in small and medium-sized firms across London and the South East choosing to locate to community-style workspace schemes, so it was the “logical next step” for the company to expand into this sector and offer investors buy-to-let opportunities. “This launch of Evolve moves our buy-to-let investment work into the commercial property sector, providing investors with a value-for-money opportunity to acquire units for rental investment, alongside enabling small firms wanting to rent or buy workspaces to get onto the commercial ladder and move into a vibrant business community complete with lifestyle facilities,” said Stephen Conway, executive chairman of Galliard Group. To send feedback, e-mail louise.dransfield@egi.co.uk or tweet @DransfieldL or @estatesgazette