Cornerstone buys Central London office for €108m

Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers has purchased 40 Gracechurch Street, a Grade A office building in Central London, for £94 mln (€108 mln) on behalf of a new separate account client.

The property, which was developed in 2010 by the vendor, Arab Investments, comprises 11,000 m2 of Grade A office space across eight floors, as well as a restaurant on the ground and lower ground floors.

The property is currently 42% let, with five vacant floors. Cornerstone said it plans to take advantage of the improving tenant demand coming through in the City to find new tenants for the building.

Cornerstone said the transaction is the first acquisition to be undertaken on behalf of a client seeking to invest into Central London office markets with a particular focus on properties which offer the opportunity to add value in the short term through active asset management.

'This is a fantastic first acquisition for our new Central London initiative and is indicative of the kind of value-add proposition we are targeting for our client in conjunction with some rather more core investments in the hot spots we have identified across the capital,' said Nick Pink, chief investment officer for Europe.

Darren Hutchinson, director of fund management at Cornerstone Europe, commented: 'Tenant demand in the City has notably improved this year and we are confident that we will be able to position the building to enhance occupancy in the near term.'

Cornerstone was advised by GM Real Estate and Hanlon Bennett, and Savills advised the vendor.