LaSalle Investment Management has bought a London office asset from Aberdeen Property Trust.
The investment manager said it paid £80.6m (€111.2m) for 3-8 Whitehall Place in London’s West End.
Aberdeen Property Trust, managed by Aberdeen Asset Management, sold the property sooner than it had planned, fund manager James McLean said.
“The property was a good-quality asset, which surpassed our price target much earlier than we had envisaged due to the strong demand for office assets in the west end of London,” he said.
“The monies from the sale will be used to diversify the portfolio further and invest in long-term opportunities on behalf of our investors.”
The 94,725 sq ft property is let to the UK government’s Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) until 2029, with a break in 2021.
Annual rents are £625,000, with an upward-only rent review in December next year.
Nick Howitt, director at LaSalle Investment Management, said the deal reflected the manager’s strategy of buying “larger, high-quality assets”.
He added: “Investor appetite and competition for the best Central London assets remain strong, and this asset is rare for its immediate sub-market offering the opportunity for both rental and capital improvement.”
The Whitehall area is, Howitt said, now starting to attract a “broader set” of occupiers.
“This is, in part, due to its position next to the popular commercial sub-markets of St James’s, Victoria and Covent Garden but is also being driven by a number of redevelopments that are substantially improving the area for both office and alternative uses,” he said.
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