Freehold drive thru acquisition offers secure income and future rental uplift

The RO Group is delighted to announce that it has acquired the freehold Burger King drive thru on Sweet Briar Road, Norwich, for £1.2million. The property is let to BKUK Flame Ltd, a major UK Burger King franchisee, on a long lease providing secure income and attractive reversionary potential.

The 1,800 sq. ft. restaurant, which includes both drive thru and dine-in facilities, is let on a 15-year full repairing and insuring lease from May 2021, with over 10 years unexpired. The current passing rent is £65,000 per annum, subject to five-yearly upward-only open market rent reviews, with the next review due in May 2026. Rents for comparable drive thru assets have risen sharply in recent years, underlining the property’s future growth potential.

Situated on the busy A140 outer ring road to the northwest of Norwich city centre, the property occupies a highly prominent trading location adjacent to a Shell petrol station, ASDA Express, and Starbucks, and directly opposite Sweet Briar Retail Park, home to leading retailers including M&S Simply Food, Currys and Costa Coffee. The 1,800 sq. ft. fast-food restaurant, which provides both drive thru and dine-in facilities, also benefits from 15 dedicated car parking spaces.

Norwich is the largest city in East Anglia and its retail and administrative centre, with a growing population, a strong student base across two universities, and excellent connectivity to London and Cambridge.

Burger King is one of the world’s largest fast food chains, with more than 19,000 outlets globally. Its UK franchisee, BKUK Flame Ltd, is part of Kout Food Group K.S.C.C., which also operates brands such as Pizza Hut, Subway and Taco Bell.

Nick Cashmore, Investment Director, RO Real Estate, commented:

“We are very pleased to have added this Burger King drive thru investment to our portfolio. The property is situated in a prime trading location with 32,000 vehicles passing daily and let to an excellent covenant offering attractive reversionary potential in 2026 given the low historic passing rent. As we seek to grow our roadside portfolio this is exactly the type of drive thru asset that we will continue to target in addition to acquiring sites to develop out ourselves”.

The RO was advised by GCW and Womble Bond Dickinson.

Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals