A SOUTHAMPTON city centre retail unit has changed hands for more than £4 million.

Cordatus Property Trust (CPT) has acquired the freehold of 63-65 Above Bar Street, Southampton, which stands on the corner with Portland Street, and is currently occupied by Halifax Building Society.

The 7,600 sq ft unit is leased to Bank of Scotland plc (trading as Halifax) on a new 10-year lease and the tenancy is unaffected by the sale, say the new owners.

CPT say the purchase price was £4.015.

The acquisition is CPT’s third this year and is part of a strategy to buy properties in the regions. Its other 2018 purchases are a multi-let industrial estate in Thatcham, Berkshire and a Travelodge in Gosforth, Tyne & Wear.

Michael Cunningham, Cordatus director, said: “We continue to see opportunities in the market which meet our key themes of offering attractive income yield, solid locations and good growth potential. Southampton delivers on these and, combined with our acquisitions in Thatcham and Gosforth, demonstrates our ability to source attractive opportunities."

Cushman & Wakefield acted for Cordatus and Hartnell Taylor Cook acted for the vendor.

The Cordatus Property Trust is a joint venture between CBRE Global Investment Partners and Cordatus Real Estate which was launched in 2015 and has an initial funding of £150m.

The trust, which operates out of offices in Edinburgh, the Midlands and London, is targeting investment opportunities primarily in UK regional markets, with typical lot sizes of between £3m to £15m.