Sirius snaps up Leicester site for self-store project

Commercial real estate group Sirius has exchanged contracts to develop a ‘digitally automated’ self storage warehouse in the East Midlands as part of a £12m deal for three sites across the UK.

Sirius has sold off two multi-use business parks in the Sheffield area to part-finance the deal, with the remaining £7m expected to come from further disposals of non-core UK assets expected this calendar year.

The Leicestershire site is expected to open in 2027, with the other two locations included in the deal – in Bedfordshire and Merton – expected to follow suit in 2027 and 2028 respectively. All three sites are subject to planning.

Sirius already owns and operates ten industrial, office and business park sites in the Midlands.

Andrew Coombs, chief executive officer of Sirius Real Estate, said: “The disposals, agreed at a premium to book value, demonstrate Sirius’s continued focus on disciplined capital recycling, crystallising value from smaller, mature assets where we see limited scope for further income or valuation growth and redeploying the proceeds into opportunities with stronger returns potential.

“The two self storage conversion sites in Leicestershire and Bedfordshire are expected to open early in the next financial year, with all three acquisition opportunities representing an exciting further step in our self storage strategy, as we expand on what is already an extensive, high-yielding and resilient part of our platform.

“These transactions are another example of the active asset management that underpins our ability to generate sustainable returns for shareholders.”