Invista - Brighton, Victory House, Brighton

Date: 08 Mar 2010

Rent of almost £1 million a year for Brighton office.

Invista Foundation Property Trust has exchanged an agreement for a new lease with Bupa Insurance Services Limited ("Bupa International") at Victory House, Brighton.

Bupa International is taking 45,000 sq ft of office space on a new 15 year lease with a break at year 10, at a rent of £960,754 per annum, equating to £21.50 per sq ft.

Victory House will be Bupa International's second significant office in the city.

Mott MacDonald will remain in the balance of the space (36,688 sq ft") on a new 15 year lease paying £790,000 per annum.

The Agreement for Lease with Bupa International is conditional on Invista refurbishing the offices to Bupa's specification, at a cost of approximately £2.9 million, with the works expected to be completed in Q3 of 2010. Upon expiry of the Bupa International rent free period, the total rent produced by the building will be £1.75 million per annum up from £1.3 million per annum before the two new lettings to Mott MacDonald and Bupa International.

Victory House was the Company's largest void and following completion of the letting the overall portfolio vacancy rate as a percentage of rental value will fall from 11.7% to 8.2%.

Invista Foundation Property Trust was represented by Knight Frank and Stiles Harold Williams and Bupa International by NB Real Estate (Part Of The Capita Group Plc).

Duncan Owen, Chief Executive of Invista Real Estate Investment Management, commented: "This is a very good letting to a strong tenant and for a long new lease. The capital investment in the property to secure the letting is consistent with our strategy of maximising income from our portfolio and driving capital value growth. The attractive terms achieved in a challenging letting market reflect the high quality of this prime office building in Brighton."

Alistair How, Managing Director of Bupa International, said: "We have been based in Brighton since the 1970s and we are committed to staying in the city. Victory House will allow us the room we need to expand our existing 600-strong workforce currently based at three city sites. We are an international business, so Brighton's cosmopolitan make-up makes it an ideal recruitment ground for our multi-lingual teams."

Victory House, Brighton

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