UK real estate investment trust Landsec has mandated advisor Savills and investment bank Lazard to sell the freehold of its one-acre site at London’s famous Piccadilly Circus, which includes newly developed offices, prime retail units and the land that underpins the world-famous Piccadilly Lights.
Launched to the market with a guide price of £450m (€519m), the asset is the largest single sale in the West End of London since 2022.
The site, which is known as Lucent, comprises 188,000sqft of mixed-use space, of which the offices make up 126,000sqft. The retail and leisure element includes four flagship stores totalling 58,000sqft, on Regent Street and Shaftesbury Avenue, which are leased to tenants including Boots and Lindt.
The sale will include the freehold that underpins Piccadilly Lights, the largest advertising screen in Western Europe, with Landsec continuing to operate the digital infrastructure on a new 250-year leasehold and retaining 95% of its net operating income.
Paul Cockburn, director in the Central London investment team at Savills, said: “This Picadilly Circus site is world-renowned and represents an incredibly rare opportunity to buy not just a high-profile freehold asset in London’s West End but also a high-quality new development completed only two years ago.”
The scheme was largely pre-let and is now leased at below-market rents, he added. “With limited risk exposure and exciting growth characteristics, we expect it to appeal to investors across the globe,” added Cockburn.
Other major transactions this week include HIG’s refinancing of its premium resort platform Ella with a consortium of European banks and the launch of two hospitality joint ventures. Cedar and L Catterton teamed up in a value-add strategy focused on the acquisition and repositioning of iconic five-star and luxury hotels in Europe and the US while GARBE Commercial Living and B&B Hotels CNE joined forces with the aim of developing a portfolio of 30 hotels primarily in Germany.
| Recently completed deals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Buyer | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Key facts |
| Merry Hill mall | retail | Brierley Hill, UK | Redical | Miles Dunnett and Russell Downs | 1,500,000sqft | £290 (€335) | The sale is the positive culmination of a successful transformation of Merry Hill over the last five years. |
| self-storage portfolio | self storage | UK | QuadReal Property, Clear Sky Capital | Padlock Euro Storage Fund I | 1,200,000sqft | £280 (€323) | Quadreal will hold a 95% stake in the joint venture that holds the portfolio of 27 assets. |
| Ebb & Flow BTR development | living | Reading, UK | PIC | Lincoln Property Company and MGT Investment Management | 598 units | £200+ (€231) | Located near Reading station, the site includes 598 studio, 1, 2, and 3-bedroom apartments, along with amenities. |
| logistics facility | logistics | Bischweier, Italy | Kajima Properties Europe, US investor | NA | 130,000m2 | €200 | Constructed in 2025, the International Consolidation Centre (ICC) is the main hub for the Mercedez-Benz supplier network in Western Europe. |
| 1 Wood Street | mixed | London | Meadow Partners and LBS | KanAm | 184,150sqft | £132 (€153) | KanAm bought the asset back in 2017. |
| 4 Angel Square | office | Manchester | Bank of New York Mellon | Federated Hermes | 200,000sqft | £114 (€132) | Completed in 2023, the building is designed by SimpsonHaugh and is fully occupied by Bank of New York Mellon. |
| Via del Quirinale 121, Via delle Quattro Fontane 147 | office | Rome | Swiss Life Asset Managers France | Blackstone | 14,700m2 | €74 | The deal is the largest transaction in the Italian capital for the past 12 months. |
| Junghofstraße 13-15 | office | Frankfurt | KVA | Shaftesbury | 7,320m2 | €70 | The site is currently occupied by Commerzbank. |
| 75% in The Bellevue Hotel Cortina and 100% of Moxy Athens City | hotel | Cortina, Italy and Athens | MHV | Prodea | NA | €59 | The assets are being paid for with shares issued by Prodea. |
| Room2 project | hotel | Leeds | Aberdeen Investments | Marrico and Helios Real Estate | 200 rooms | £46 (€53) | The forward funding deal will support development of the scheme. |
| PBSA scheme Stanley Studios | living | Southampton, UK | Legal & General | Brookfield Asset Management | 245beds | £43 (€50) | The scheme comprises 177 studios and 68 two-bed apartments. |
| Passeig de Gràcia 115 | living | Barcelona | AX Partners | RSR Singular Assets Europe Socimi | 1,962m2 | €30 | The building includes 17 apartments, 10 hotel rooms and two retail areas. |
| viale Castello della Magliana | office | Rome | Anav Investment Group | Technip Energies Italy S.p.A. | 33,000m2 | NA | The sale is part of Technip’s strategy to move its head office to Viale Tupini 180. |
| brownfield site | development | Pomezia, Italy | Logicor, Kryalos | Techbau | 95,000m2 | NA | The site will be redeveloped to create a modern, highly sustainable logistics building of 38,000m2. |
| four mid‑box industrial assets | logistics | Greater London and the Midlands | Hines | NA | 290,000sqft | NA | The portfolio is fully leased. |
| five Club del Sole resorts | hotel | Italy | Swiss Life Asset Managers France | Club del Sole | 3,000rooms | NA | The sale and lease back operation sees Club del Sole rents the assets for a 20-year period. |
| Quick Park Mysłowice | retail | Mysłowice, Poland | Mitiska REIM and Karuzela Holding | NA | 12,760m2 | NA | The purchase was made on behalf of the MEREP 3 fund. |
| 32 avenue d’Iéna | office | Paris | Hines | Ofi Invest Real Estate | 3,000m2 | NA | Ofi secured in 2023 to unlock the potential of the asset, which at the time was vacant and obsolete. |
| Lixa D office building at ul. Giełdowa 5 | office | Warsaw | OPG Property Professionals | Yareal | 10,000m2 | NA | The scheme was completed in 2024. |
| Limelight | living | Liverpool | Harbert European Real Estate | Blacklight Capital Partners | 535 beds | NA | The asset comprises a mix of studio and cluster apartments alongside amenities including study space, gym, cinema and social areas. |
| two logistics assets | logistics | Modena, Italy | Manova Partners, Kryalos Sgr | DeA Capital Real Estate SGR, GO Italia VI Fund | NA | NA | Completed in 2022, the Class A properties form part of the headquarters of one of the main Italian third-party logistics providers. |
| three logistics assets | logistics | Sweden | Nordisk Renting | Svensk Cater | 23,000m2 | NA | The assets are fully leased to Svensk Cater. |
| 48 boulevard Raspail asset | mixed | Paris | Générale Continental Investissement | La Banque de France | 13,550m2 | NA | The asset is occupied by Banque de France. |
| Assets on the market | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Broker | Key facts |
| Echelon Data Centres | data centre | Europe | Owners including Starwood | 700 megawatts | €4500 | Deutsche Bank AG and Eastdil Secured | The owners are exploring a potential sale. |
| Piccadilly Lights | mixed | London | Landsec | 17,480m2 | £450 (€520) | Savills, Lazard | This would currently make it the largest single sale in the West End of London since 2022. |
| two apartment schemes | living | Dún Laoghaire, Ireland | DWS | NA | €220 | NA | The price represents a 12 % premium on the amount the German fund paid for the homes in 2020. |
| Nobu Hotel Roma | hotel | Rome | Nobu Hospitality | 117 rooms | €200 | NA | The hotel just underwent a major repositioning after receiving a €135m financing from Castello SGR and Oaktree Capital Management. |
| Novotel & Ibis Styles Madrid City Las Ventas | hotel | Madrid | NA | 252 rooms | €85 | NA | The asset opened in the fall of 2019. |
| Mongibello hotel | hotel | Ibiza | Bain Capital and Stoneweg | 136 rooms | €65 | CBRE | The hotel underwent a renovation in 2022. |
| The Park Collection | mixed | Dublin | Iput | 132,000sqft | €40 | Colliers and Savills | The portfolio is 90% occupied, has a WAULT of approx. four years. |
| Nutgrove Shopping Centre | retail | Dublin | Lanthorn | 230,000sqft | €27 | Savills | Nutgrove Shopping Centre dates back to the early 1980s. |
| Cambridge Science Park | development | Cambridge | Royal Society of Chemistry | 65,758sqft | NA | Carter Jonas | The three-acre development opportunity is valued at £200m. |
| Mix Manchester | mixed | Manchester | Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Pension Fund | 2,000,000sqft | NA | NA | The joint venture partners behind the £1bn project are seeking investors to forward-fund the 60-acre masterplan. |
| Recently completed loans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender(s) | Borrower(s) | Asset(s) | Loan Size (mln) | Key facts |
| Bank of Piraeus | Ella Resorts and OB Streem | European resort portfolio | $1600 (€1378) | The transactions will support the continued growth of both platforms, including the ongoing refurbishment and repositioning of Ella’s resort portfolio, the expansion of Streem’s logistics infrastructure network, and new acquisitions. |
| Unnamed North American credit fund | Noratis | Unsecured | €227 | The facility will be used by the company to pay bank loans and bonds. |
| Arini | easyStorage | Self storage portfolio | £180 (€208) | The facility will support the firm’s UK expansion. |
| Bank Hapoalim B.M. | PPHE Hotel Group | Park Plaza London Waterloo | £136.5 (€158) | The facility bears a floating interest rate, of which c.90% will be hedged. |
| ING | Global Holdings | London Xylo scheme | £105 (€121) | The sustainable office development in Clerkenwell will be the UK’s largest all-timber frame office building. |
| Lloyds | Trent & Dove | living portfolio in the UK | £88 (€102) | The financing comprises a £58m package from Lloyds’ Scottish Widows, along with a £30m revolving credit facility. |
| Rivage Investment | nLighten | Data centre portfolio in the UK | £85 (€98.3) | The facility will fund business expansion across the UK. |
| Oaknorth and REL | JMK | Lower Thames Street office building | £48 (€55.5) | The funding will finance the conversion of the Lower Thames Street office building into a 260-key hotel. |
| ASK and Firma Partners | SENG | two London assets | £65.5 (€76) | The funds are backing the conversion of an Islington office block into a hotel plus leisure and retail uses, and the residential conversion of office building Chiswick Tower. |
| FSDV | SCI O Sophia | Imaginarium in Wasquehal, France | €36 | The loan allows the refinancing of a development loan. |
| PBB | Manova Partners | two logistics assets in Italy | €28 | pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank acted as the arranger and sole lender of the senior debt financing. |
| Investec Bank | Hines and Chancerygate | 166,500sqft speculative multi-unit urban logistics scheme near Manchester | NA | The senior development loan will fund the speculative development of the project. |
| New mandates/JVs and funds on the market | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firm | Fund/mandate/JV | Strategy | Details | |
| Cedar and L Catterton | Hospitality JV | Value-add investment strategy focused on the acquisition and repositioning of iconic five-star and luxury hotels in Europe and the US | The JV has bought Garden Beach Hotel, a 177-key beachfront property located in Antibes, French Riviera and Penha Longa Resort near Lisbon. | |
| L&G and Hyde Group | UK affordable home partnership | Delivering affordable homes across the UK | The 50/50 partnership is launching with a seed portfolio of over 1,000 homes. | |
| Garbe Commercial Living and B&B Hotels CNE | European hospitality investment platform | Developing a portfolio of 30 hotels, with a primary focus on the German market | The expansion strategy also targets locations in Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic, with the first properties scheduled to open as early as 2027. | |
| Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, DW Effectum Residential | German multi-family JV | Building a portfolio of multi family assets across Germany | The partners have acquired four fully let multi-family assets in southern Germany. | |
