AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets said it has completed the acquisition of a 1.5 acre site in the heart of Bristol City Centre for the development of a new office-led estate.
AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets said it has completed the acquisition of a 1.5 acre site in the heart of Bristol City Centre for the development of a new office-led estate.
The transaction, whose financial details were not disclosed, was completed on behalf of clients of AXA.
The French asset manager plans to build 240,000 sq ft (22,296 m2) of office space on the site, with the aim to fulfil occupier demand from a range of businesses. The site has an existing planning consent for offices spread across two buildings.
'We believe this is one of the best undeveloped opportunities in the heart of Bristol,' said Harry Badham, UK head of Development, Real Assets.
'This acquisition forms part of our ongoing wider development programme and demonstrates our willingness to undertake large-scale developments,' commented Jean-Manuel Rossi, Global head of Development, Real Assets. AXA is currently managing €10.8 bn of development projects across six European countries, he added.
In addition to benefitting from a waterfront location, the Bristol site sits within the Temple Quarter, one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the UK which is expected to benefit from significant investment into the surrounding infrastructure over the next few years. The scheme is also located close to Cabot Circus shopping centre, which AXA IM - Real Assets acquired, on behalf of its clients, in a 50/50 joint venture last year.
Development fund
AXA Real Estate is understood to be finalising the launch of a new pan-European speculative development fund as the prior 2012-vintage vehicle, Development Venture III, is nearly fully invested.
The new fund, Development Venture IV, has an opportunistic strategy and focuses on the acquisition of land plots without building permits across main European cities with the aim to develop office buildings and generate higher returns.
Investors in the new vehicle are largely the same institutions as for DV III, which in 2012 raised €588 mln in equity from a broad range of investors comprising pension funds (54%), insurance companies (24%), sovereign wealth funds (14%) and funds of funds (8%) from North America (19.5%), the Middle East (17.0%) and countries in Europe (63.5%) including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland and France.
The raised funds provided €2.5bn of development capacity after leverage and reinvestment of proceeds.
DV III is currently developing the largest speculative project underway in Greater Paris, the 86,000 m2 Qu4drans project consisting of a total of four buildings in the 15th arrondissement. AXA IM - Real Assets appointed JLL and BNP Paribas Real Estate in late-2014 to market the space, which is targeted at very large occupiers.