Property fund manager Cordea Savills has acquired the Apex Retail Park in Twickenham, South West London for GBP14.4m on behalf of the Charities Property Fund. 

This is the fund’s first acquisition of 2010 and adds to the four transactions totalling more than GBP40m, purchased in the second half of 2009.

The Apex Retail Park comprises two purpose-built retail warehouse units with 152 car parking spaces and good communication links.

The property offers a net yield to the fund of 6.4 per cent and the prospect of capital growth given its prominence and the shortage of retail warehousing in South West London.

The five transactions totalled GBP57m and provide an average yield of 7.75 per cent on gross costs. The properties are fully let.

The average lease length to expiry is nearly 12 years and length of time to the earliest break is ten years.

Harry de Ferry Foster, fund director, says: “We have been particularly successful in securing properties with above average lease lengths, excellent tenant quality and at yields, on average, that are significantly higher than the IPD average. The fund now offers a net distribution yield of around 7.5 per cent, which is extremely attractive to charities in the current environment of low interest rates and economic uncertainty. This, together with its tax efficiency, makes the Fund an ideal investment vehicle for charities.”

The fund has also undertaken an in specie transfer of assets from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Paul Hamlyn is one of the largest independent grant-making foundations in the UK, with a particular focus on children, young people and the disadvantaged. The foundation has transferred eight properties into the fund worth a total of GBP13m in return for units in the fund.