Barings and London property developer LBS Properties have teamed up to buy an office development scheme in Southbank, London from LaSalle Investment Management for £43.3m (€50.8m).

Barings said the site has planning consent for the demolition of the existing Emmerson building and the development of 150,000sqft of new office space.

The new building will comprise 11 upper floors of office with a ground floor retail unit and complemented by 14,000sqft of affordable workspace at lower ground, ground and first floor.

Darren Hutchinson, the head of UK real estate transactions and managing director at Barings, said: “We very much look forward to working with them to deliver a best in class scheme with strong ESG credentials and that will appeal to a wide range of occupiers and in a vibrant submarket, characterized by very low Grade A vacancy rates and high levels of demand.”

Gunther Deutsch, the head of transactions Europe and managing director at Barings, said the transaction represented a rare opportunity to acquire a well-located development site in a historically undersupplied and attractive submarket of London.

“We have strong convictions in the London office market and believe that there will continue to be strong demand for well-located Grade A office space with strong occupier appeal.”

Nick Crawford, managing director of LBS Properties, said: “We are pleased to be working with Barings, an investor with deep investment expertise across global real estate markets, and share a vision of creating a forward-looking office building, fit for a fast-evolving market, with the tenant experience our priority from day one. “

Chris Lewis, fund manager for debt and value-add at LaSalle Investment Management, said: “This is an excellent example of value-creation for our client; we have delivered on our business plan to achieve a significant increase in building area through improved planning permission and retain the freehold.”

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