Clarence House in Newport is in under new ownership after the eleven storey office block was bought at auction in London for £3.95m.

The tower block, overlooking Rodney Parade, has been bought by a London- based property investment firm.

The building was sold at auction in London by Allsops – with the price representing an initial yield of 19.43 %.

It was acquired out of receivership having previously been owned by property fund Armsworth.

David Jones, of Hutchings & Thomas Chartered Surveyors, which are based in the building and were joint auctioneers for the sale, said: “There was keen interest from both home and abroad in acquiring the building before it went to auction, which is very encouraging for the city of Newport.

“The new owners plan to make improvements both internally and externally to the building to boost its overall appeal to existing and prospective occupiers.”

Mr Jones said one of the first steps will be to reduce the rent offered to new occupants at the 100,000 sq ft building to an introductory rate for the first yea of £5 per sq ft.

Mr Jones said: “This market leading rent is aimed at attracting start ups and those looking to take their business to the next stage, to consider locating to Clarence House. “We believe this very competitive rent could prove most attractive to businesses and individuals who may currently be looking at quality office space in Cardiff or Bristol. Clarence House is currently two thirds occupied by a number of clue chip clients including the Courts Service, GXS and AC Nielson. There is some 30,000 sq ft available predominantly on floors 8, 9 and 10.”

Hutchings and Thomas are joint letting agents with Savills on Clarence House