Hong Kong SWF buys into London redevelopment

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has become the latest Asian investor to buy into a major redevelopment project in London.

The €242 bn sovereign wealth fund has teamed up in a 50-50 joint venture with London-listed Great Portland Estates (GPE) to own and develop the Hanover Square Estate in the West End.

GPE has transferred properties that form part of the Hanover Square Estate to the joint venture, GHS, for £202 mln (€240 mln).

The partners intend to develop the site in accordance with an existing planning permission for office, retail and residential accommodation with a target delivery date of 2018.

Part of the site is owned by Crossrail which is developing the eastern ticket hall of the Bond Street Crossrail station. GHS has an agreement to acquire long-leasehold interests in this element of the site once Crossrail has completed the station structure, currently anticipated to be during 2016.

GPE was granted planning permission in 2011 for a 19,320 m2 redevelopment incorporating the new Crossrail station. Once completed, the scheme will provide 15,190 m2 of Grade A office accommodation across three buildings, the majority of which will be in a new building above the Crossrail station, fronting Hanover Square.

In addition, the development will deliver 3,000 m2 of prime retail and restaurant space predominantly fronting New Bond Street and six residential units totalling 1,000 m2 at the junction of New Bond Street and Brook Street. The entire development has been planned around a large new public piazza, accessible from New Bond Street, Hanover Square, Brook Street and Tenterden Street.

This is the third transaction in the space of a few days whereby a big Asian investor has bought into or taken full control of a large redevelopment in London.

Irish investor-developer Green Property announced on 5 November that Chinese property and entertainment conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group had bought its mixed-use development One Nine Elms in London's South Bank regeneration area.

A day earlier, Knight Dragon, an investment vehicle owned by Hong Kong-based businessman Henry Cheng Kar-Shun, signed a conditional agreement with UK investor-developer Quintain to take over their joint venture backing the regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula in London.

Knight Dragon will acquire Quintain's stake for £186 mln (€220 mln). In addition, Knight Dragon has agreed to pay Quintain about £44 mln in cash to satisfy a previous contractual agreement. This will bring the total acquisition price to €273 mln.