Drylining distributor to open South Coast depot

A family-owned drylining distributer is opening its first depot on the South Coast.

Following a competitive tender, Markovitz has agreed terms resulting in the signing of a ten-year lease on the 40,436 sq ft Silver Point warehouse/offices at Hilsea Industrial Estate, Portsmouth.

Property consultancy Vail Williams acted on behalf of Paloma Capital, a private equity real estate investor which acquired Silver Point’s long leasehold interest for £4.5m.

Russell Mogridge, head of agency for Vail Williams, said: “Portsmouth continues to see strong demand for industrial and logistics space; buildings with secure yards such as this are extremely rare to come by and, such was the interest, there was a competitive tender for potential occupiers.

“Markovitz has done extremely well to secure this excellent building, which is ideally located to serve the requirements of many of the trades businesses based in and around the international gateway ports of Portsmouth and Southampton.”

Alex Gauntlett, partner at Vail Williams’ South Coast agency team, added: “It was a shrewd move for Paloma Capital to invest in this property, adding to their existing portfolio in the city.

“We continue to see rental growth reflecting low supply of available warehouse space, with best bids for freehold and leasehold property increasingly taking place.”

Markovitz Divisional, manging director Mike Davies, said: “As our insulation and drylining distribution division continues to grow, we recently opened our Gatwick depot, taking us closer to the London market, and the same rationale holds for our new branch at Silver Point in Portsmouth, providing us access to the buoyant Solent region with a population of 1.25 million and 42,000 businesses.

“This is our first operational footprint on the South Coast but, as with all our branches, we have assembled a vastly experienced local team who are very much looking forward to giving excellent customer service at competitive prices.”