LaSalle secures 126,000 m[sup]2[/sup] of French leases in 12 months

LaSalle Investment Management has announced the signing of a six-year firm lease with the owners of an international financial newspaper for offices located at 46 rue La Boetie in Paris. The property is now also fully occupied.

The former headquarters of the French business publication, Les Echos, the restructured property was acquired and leased by LaSalle on behalf of the LaSalle French Fund II. Other occupants of the building include Allianz Real Estate, and Optimind.

In the past year, LaSalle has successfully negotiated letting agreements for approximately 126,000 m² of commercial real estate across France, generating a total of nearly EUR 18.2 million per year in rental income for its separate account clients and Continental European open-ended and closed funds, including Encore +, LaSalle French Fund II and LaSalle Euro Growth II.

Office buildings accounted for nearly 29,000 m² of this space, with other high profile tenancies including a 12 year lease with DCNS, a leading European provider of naval defence systems, for the 12,349 m² 'Le Viala' property located in Paris’ 15th arrondissement, 42 rue du Docteur Finlay.

Light industrial properties also accounted for a significant proportion of the total volume at just over 31,000 m².secured through 37 new leasing transactions and lease renewals in a sector which has been significantly affected by the economic downturn. Retail lettings made up 7,500m2, while the remainder was accounted for by the securing of Point P as a tenant for the 51,000m² Brie Comte Robert warehouse and Harbour SAS (part of CCV Beaumanoir) for 6,000m² at the Paris Oise Logistics Park.

Loïc Sanieres, European Director at LaSalle IM France said, 'We’re delighted to have completed the lease up of this multi-tenant CBD property in rue La Boetie with yet another long-term tenant which confirms the quality of the restructuration and the location. The past year has been very successful in terms of securing high-quality tenants for the properties we manage in spite of challenging economic conditions. We believe that this is testament to the quality of the properties that we manage and our proactive approach to asset management.'