Almacantar buys on London's South Bank for €789m

Developer-investor Almacantar has completed the acquisition of two properties at the controversial Shell Center mixed-use redevelopment project on London´s South Bank for £550 mln (€789 mln).

London-focused Almacantar is buying One and Two Southbank Place in one of the largest investment transactions ever on the South Bank. Together the properties provide 53,000 m2 of space.

Cain Hoy, a UK private investment company, provided £390 mln financing, equating to an LTV of 71%, for the transaction.

Almacantar has sought to buy the properties for over a year. But the overall 140,000 m2 redevelopment project by Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar and the sale of the two properties have been dogged by legal challenges. Opponents claimed the €1.7 bn scheme centred around the existing 1960's-era Shell Tower would block views of the Houses of Parliament and objected to the how approval was granted. The UK High Court dismissed a legal challenge in March 2015.

Energy group Shell remains a tenant of the tower and has signed a pre-let on One Southbank Place, giving it a further 22,700 m2. Two Southbank Place is being developed on a speculative basis.

Braeburn Estates, a joint venture between Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar Group, submitted plans for the mixed-use Shell Center redevelopment in 2012.

Under the plans, the existing 27-storey Shell tower will remain and a further eight new buildings will be added. The redevelopment will provide 74,000 m2 of office space (including the Shell Center Tower), 7,400 m2 of retail units and restaurants and cafés, as well as 790 new homes (7,400 m2). The development is planned for completion in 2019.