The £23.54M sale of Arup’s 93K SF Midlands office opens the door to plans that will break the mould of what is perceived to be a business park, according to its developer.

Coleshill-based IM Properties sold the office at Blythe Valley Park, Solihull, to Middle Eastern private investors at a yield of 7.23%. The rent is £19.50/SF with six years on the lease.

The sale comes as IM Properties is reported to be in talks to sell 55 Colmore Row, Birmingham, for £100M.

IM has now moved heavily into strategic residential land and said its plans to mix residential with business use will revolutionise Midlands business parks.

"The sale of Arup was a strategic decision to facilitate the release of more capital to invest back into the park," IM Properties Investment Director John Hammond told Bisnow.

“The ultimate aim is to create something not witnessed outside of the South East and unique to the Midlands. A truly mixed-use offer which will provide 750 homes, offices, industrial and leisure space will break the mould of what is perceived to be business park.”

IM is currently developing 260K SF across eight buildings with an end value in excess of £35M.

“This is the largest development push ever witnessed on the park and the most on the M42 for over a decade,” Hammond said.

IM recently launched the M42 corridor’s first speculative office development for a decade, unveiling the five-unit Connexion scheme. The 209K SF campus will be ready for occupation by summer 2018.

Blythe Valley is next to junction 4 of the M42 close to Birmingham Airport and the new HS2 hub.

The Arup sale comes as IM Properties' strategic land subsidiary, IM Land, marks its first anniversary with 644 acres added to its portfolio, 12,000 residential plots under its control and a further 7,000 plots in solicitors' hands.

“It was clear that the traditional approach to housing delivery wasn't providing the numbers necessary,” IM Land Strategic Land Director Jonathan Dyke said.

“To end our first year with 12,000 plots across 17 sites which we own, control or are in partnership on, was a tremendous outcome. We've got a good spread in locations such as Bath, Maidenhead, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick and Wycombe and outline planning on nearly 1,500 homes across two key sites in Solihull and Lichfield," he said.