London serviced-office specialist Office Space in Town (OSiT) is looking to create a fund for as much as £500m (€590m) of assets from the sub-sector.
Co-founder and chief executive Giles Fuchs is aiming to create what would be the first dedicated fund to earn income from UK serviced-offices.
The fund would bring together four existing properties in London’s Waterloo, New Broad Street, St Paul’s and Monument districts.
The vehicle, with OSiT as cornerstone investor, would offer returns of around 6%.
OSiT said that, even in a downturn, the returns are achievable.
Fuchs has recently argued that the UK’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union could favour the serviced-offices sector.
In times of “economic volatility and uncertainty”, he said, businesses look for flexibility, with the serviced-office model the “most attractive and appropriate solution”.
Fears that companies will scale down their workforces present an opportunity, he said, with senior management being the first to depart firms and then set up businesses, feeding demand for flexible office space.
Two of OSiT’s joint ventures, worth a combined £160m, were recently backed by KaiLong.
The Shanghai-based company took a majority stake in May this year in OSiT’s LSOI vehicle, replacing Forum Partners, which had initially backed the vehicle.
KaiLong also took a majority stake in OSiT’s second joint venture, LSO II, in which Forum Partners is a partner and shareholder.
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