Birmingham's iconic Mailbox on sale for £120m in 'rare opportunity' for investors

The iconic Mailbox building in Birmingham city centre has been put up for sale for £120million.

The well-known building houses a shopping mall, restaurants and bars, a car park, as well as offices including the BBC, which made its home there in 2004.

The building's name derives from its original use as a large sorting office for Royal Mail.

Bids are being invited for the famous property by its owner, Mailbox REIT, with a price tag in excess of £120 million.

More than 40 tenants are located within the premises which measures 1.07 million sq ft of space across a 6.2-acre footprint.

They include Everyman cinema, food and drink outlets such as Aluna, Côte Brasserie and Pennyblacks, co-working hub run by Spaces and fashion brands Harvey Nichols and Gieves & Hawkes.

The BBC is a well-known tenant of the building, but the corporation is expected to leave within the next few years, relocating to a new base at the former Typhoo Tea factory in Digbeth.

BBC represents 18% of the income from tenants at the Mailbox. The canalside complex currently has an annual rental income of £12 million and a vacancy rate of just 4.6%.

A new marketing brochure details the opportunity for investors and says "offers are being sought in excess of £120 million". It says: "A rare opportunity to acquire one of the UK's largest mixed-use assets, a workplace and lifestyle icon.

"The Mailbox is exceptionally well let, with a very low vacancy rate and benefits from significant asset management, value add and repositioning options in the immediate and longer term. The Mailbox offers an established workplace and lifestyle ecosystem, with a balanced mix of office, leisure and cinema, retail and department store and car park uses."

The Mailbox is currently owned by Mailbox REIT, which in 2021, became the first company to list on the International Property Securities Exchange (IPSX), which was set up to trade shares in businesses owning single property assets.

Businessman and former BBC Dragon James Caan was among the early investors in both Mailbox REIT and the stock exchange itself.

However, in September IPSX announced it would close down by the end of this year and Mailbox REIT has since delisted from the exchange, confirming in October that it would not seek to list the asset on another exchange.

Property group M7 Real Estate, which initially acquired the Mailbox in 2019 from Brockton Capital and Milligan Retail, is both a major shareholder in Mailbox REIT and also the building's asset manager. Property agency JLL has been instructed to handle enquiries about the new sale.

ITV Central has contacted M7 Real Estate who said they did not want to comment.

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