Sale of former Sunderland Echo premises

Johnsons Press appointed Naylors to sell their iconic site in Pennywell, Sunderland.  Echo House, the head office and printing facilities for the newspaper since 1976, went up for sale following the decision by Johnston Press to move the production of its North East titles to Sheffield.

The property, which can be readily seen from a considerable distance when driving south on the A19 at Washington, due to its height, offers a perfect logistical location but did present some challenges as it had a number of issues including restricted user, outstanding ground rent review and limited lease length.  Also in its existing condition it was not ideal for a lot of end users.  However given the size of the site and the mix of office and industrial space, the property offered the potential to be used and/or converted to create something bespoke – whether that be from an owner occupier, developer or investor.

We launched a comprehensive marketing campaign as we knew the building would not appeal to all end users and identified Tecaz as a prospective purchaser.  Tecaz are a regional specialist in the sale and distribution of kitchens and bathrooms.  We were able to agree a new ground rent and regularise the user provisions in the lease so our client, the new owner and freeholder were all happy with the outcome.