Feldberg Capital has acquired a mixed-use building in London’s Covent Garden for £75m (€87.7m) for its brown-to-green London workplaces fund.
The ReForm fund is targeting well-connected, amenity-rich central London growth locations such as Soho, Fitzrovia, Marylebone and Bloomsbury, Feldberg directors said.
The fund received significant backing from a cornerstone UK institutional investor, achieving first close in October 2023. The fund has a target of £300m, which Feldberg insiders said “will provide firepower of around £500m including leverage”.
This latest deal follows the fund’s first acquisition in December last year of 8 Bloomsbury Street, a 33,448 sq ft building located close to Tottenham Court Road station, which is currently undergoing a retrofit to provide a bespoke, fully-fitted, green workplace.
The latest acquisition of 21-25 Bedford Street is a highly prominent building less than 100 metres from Covent Garden Piazza, and close to Covent Garden and Leicester Square underground stations, while Tottenham Court Road station is only 750 metres away.
In line with the ReForm fund’s strategy, ESG upgrade measures will include the removal of gas boilers, installation or air-source and water-source heat pumps, and installation of on-site solar panels.
Robert Allen-Mersh, director at Feldberg, said: “This acquisition continues to support our thesis that we are seeing a once-in-a-cycle opportunity to invest in Central London’s best commercial real estate assets at very attractive values. 21-25 Bedford Street is a very high-quality mixed-use building in the heart of Covent Garden with exciting asset management upside.”
Will Amies, head of business development at Feldberg, said: “21-25 Bedford Street marks ReForm’s second transaction following the impact fund’s acquisition of 8 Bloomsbury Street late last year.
”We achieved first close on ReForm in October 2023 and subsequently quickly reached second close in December 2023. Our ability to fundraise in the current climate is testament to the belief investors have in our ability to deploy capital quickly into good buildings at very attractive pricing.”
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