Hermes Real Estate and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have formed a UK regional joint venture.
Hermes Real Estate, the pension fund manager owned by the BT Pension Scheme, is selling 50% of the development phase of Wellington Place in Leeds to CPPIB.
The 1.5m sqft project, which includes office, residential and retail, has a £185m (€232.7m) total gross development value.
Earlier this year, the two companies agreed a London office joint venture, paying £180m for the South Bank Tower.
Last year, the BT Pension Scheme sold £174m of its London property portfolio to CPPIB, forming a joint venture.
Aldgate House was the joint venture’s first purchase.
Hermes said 35,000 sqft of offices in Wellington Place was completed, with construction underway on a further 105,000 sqft.
MEPC, which is managing the project, has leased most of the scheme’s first building and is in discussions with office occupiers for further phases.
Three further buildings are planned to deliver an additional 317,000 sqft of prime office space.
Andrea Orlandi, managing director and head of European real estate investment at CPPIB, said the fund saw the scheme as a “strong complement” to its existing office portfolio in London.
Global law firm Squire Patton Boggs has signed up to 32,000 sqft when a 105,000 sqft building completes later next year.
Hermes this week agreed a $250m (€210m) joint venture to invest in the US office sector with Lionstone Investments.
The two companies will use an open-ended structure to invest in US growth cities.
