Brexit probably won't interfere with investors looking to connect with London’s Walkie-Talkie, while Paris' 'heart' will be the biggest single-asset deal this cycle, writes Mike Philips in the 'on the market' feature, appearing in the April edition of PropertyEU Magazine.
The Coeur Défense office building in Paris is set to become the largest single asset sold in Europe during this real estate cycle when it is put up for sale for €1.8 bn imminently. Lone Star, which bought the 177,040 m2 building for €1.35 bn in 2014, has appointed Morgan Stanley, Rothschild and JLL to first refinance the building and then sell it. The refinancing is understood to be close to being completed, and a large letting was recently announced that improves the value of the asset.
Telecoms firm Orange is taking 17,545 m2 of space in the building on a 12-year lease, reducing the vacancy rate from around 20% to around 10%. Sovereign wealth funds and Asian pension funds are seen as the likely buyers, with a consortium likely to be needed to complete a transaction this large.
Walkie Talkie
A 50% stake in one of the City of London's most distinctive skyscrapers is up for sale for around £600 mln (€703 mln), as prime assets in the UK capital seem to be able to shrug off any Brexit malaise. Canary Wharf Group has instructed agents to find a buyer for the 50% stake in the 63,916 m2 ‘Walkie Talkie’ at 20 Fenchurch Street which it manages on behalf of a group of investors.
Canary Wharf owns 15% of the building, and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, China Investment Corporation and Qatar Investment Authority all own 11.7%. MSREI had been seeking to sell its stake, and CIC is seen as a potential buyer of the stake. The sale of 50% was to some degree prompted by the incredible success of a sale of a half stake in the Cheesegrater building earlier this year, with the whole building eventually trading for €1.34 bn at a record price per m2 for a City of London office building.
Shopping centre
Belgium's largest shopping centres has been put up for sale for €400 mln. AG Real Estate, the property arm of Belgian insurer AG, has appointed JLL and CBRE to sell the Woluwe shopping centre in Brussels.
The centre, to the east of the city, comprises 45,000 m2, and has planning permission for an extension of 10,000 m2 at an expected cost of €50 mln. One of the most popular malls in Belgium, Woluwe attracted 6.5 million visitors last year. It is the largest single shopping centre currently on sale in Europe, and is expected to be hotly contested by shopping centre REITs and fund managers.
Mike Philips is editor of Europroperty, part of the PropertyEU Group
________________
FACT FILES
________________
Coeur Défense
Location: Paris
Type: Office
Price guide: €1.8 bn
Vendor: Lonestar
Size: 177,000 m2
Advisers: Morgan Stanley, Rothschild, JLL
Walkie Talkie
Location: London
Type: Office
Price guide: €703 mln
Vendor: Canary Wharf Group
Size: 63,916 m2
Advisers: CBRE and Eastdil Secured
Woluwe
Location: Brussels
Type: Shopping centre
Price guide: €400 mln
Vendor: AG Real Estate
Size: 45,000 m2
Advisers: JLL and CBRE
