A registered church charity has acquired an industrial unit in Dorset as a place of public worship, in a deal lead by Vail Williams.
GodFirst Church Ltd acquired the 123-year lease on Building 15, Airfield Road, Christchurch, for a seven-figure sum, with a ground rent of £27,000 per annum.
Previously occupied by Curtiss-Wright Corporation, a global innovative company that delivers highly engineered, critical function products and services to the commercial, industrial, defense and energy markets, the property has planning permission for change of use to a place of public worship.
Now part of Vail Williams, with eight offices covering the South East, Hughes Ellard acted for Curtiss-Wright in the deal.
Will Elgeti, a surveyor with Vail Williams’ business space agency team within the Solent region, said: “We have found strong demand from owner occupiers seeking industrial and warehouse units in Christchurch and the New Forest.
“It is a matter of public record that GodFirst Church, which reportedly has more than 250 members, has been looking for a permanent home in Christchurch for 20 years.
“The quoted price for the industrial unit, which is 2,358 sq m (24,303 sq ft), was £1.5 million. Everyone acted to the letter in the deal, which will see new life breathed into this unoccupied property.”
Hughes Ellard, before merging with Vail Williams, was joint agent with Cushman & Wakefield in London, with Parker Bullen LLP in Salisbury acting for the vendor, Curtiss-Wright Controls UK Ltd.
GodFirst Church Ltd was represented by Humphries Kirk in Poole.