British Land has exchanged contracts with German fund manager KanAm Grund Kapitalanlagegesellschaft for the sale of One Exchange Square on the Broadgate Estate in the City of London for £406 mln (EUR 595 mln).
British Land has exchanged contracts with German fund manager KanAm Grund Kapitalanlagegesellschaft for the sale of One Exchange Square on the Broadgate Estate in the City of London for £406 mln (EUR 595 mln).
The building - headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - has an unexpired office lease of almost 16 years. British Land, the second largest real estate investment trust (REIT) in Europe, paid £206 mln for the property in 1998. The building comprises 35,000 m2 of modern Grade A office, retail and leisure accommodation arranged over ground, mezzanine and 12 upper floors.
The EBRD was set up after the collapse of communism in 1989 to help Eastern European countries develop market economies. DTZ and SJ Berwin acted for British Land. Jones Lang LaSalle and Nabarro advised KanAm Grund.
The sale comes as office buildings in London's main financial district are fetching record prices, as a lack of new developments pushes up rents, Bloomberg said. Swiss Reinsurance sold the 'Gherkin' office building in a sale and leaseback deal last February for 600 million pounds. And at the end of April, HSBC bank sold its headquarters to Spanish property company Metrovacesa for £1.1 bn (about EUR 1.59 bn) - the largest single property deal in UK history.
Also on Tuesday, British Land confirmed it will proceed with the construction of the Leadenhall Building in the City of London district. The 47-storey building is set to become one of the tallest in the City of London when completed in 2011 at a cost of £286 mln. The development is part of British Land's £4 bn development programme which also includes the new 35 storey Broadgate Tower and 201 Bishopsgate developments in the City.
Stephen Hester, ceo of British Land, said: 'We are confident about London’s future and its continued renaissance as the premier international business centre in the world. We believe the Leadenhall Building to be clearly the best of the new generation of City towers and expect it to attract strong interest from prospective occupiers.'