Hermes Real Estate and WELPUT (the West End of London Property Unit Trust) have sold a London office property for £210m (€265.5m) to Tishman Speyer.

The joint venture said it sold the leasehold of the Point, in London’s Paddington Basin, to the US investor just under 10 years after purchase.

WELPUT and Hermes bought the Point for £125m from Chelsfield in late 2004. 

The 236,239 sq ft building, opposite Paddington Station, was developed in 2003.

WELPUT and Hermes, wholly owned by the BT Pension Scheme, were advised by Schroder Property. 

The joint venture said the trust holding the property had regeared and renegotiated leases alongside the refurbishment and reletting of five floors.

Rents, it added, were up £57 per sq ft last year, with tenants including A2Dominion Housing Group, as well as engineering firms CH2M Hill and CB&I.

Last year, CH2M Hill, an existing tenant in the building, moved floors and took 45,000 sq ft. 

A2Dominion signed a 10-year lease for 18,000 sq ft on the building’s seventh floor. 

CB&I took 36,000 sq ft.

Chris Taylor, chief executive of Hermes Real Estate, last month said the UK capital’s office market was benefiting from a diverse range of sectors.

Taylor’s comments came as Hermes and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) agreed to pay £180m for a London office tower. 

The partnership agreed the forward commitment on the 269,000 sq ft South Bank Tower property with sellers Jadwa Investment and developer CIT Group.

In Manchester, Hermes is partnering the Co-operative Group on the UK’s biggest regional redevelopment project, the mixed-use NOMA scheme. 

Co-Op and Hermes will be equal partners in the £800m joint venture.

An initial agreement is expected next month.

The 10-year project will see 20 acres of land developed in the centre of the city. Hermes’ development arm, Argent, however, will not be involved in the project.

The developer, which Hermes bought in 1997, is currently working on the mixed-use King’s Cross development.

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