Tishman Speyer is acquiring The Point office building located at Paddington Basin in London for £210 mln (€284 mln).

Tishman Speyer is acquiring The Point office building located at Paddington Basin in London for £210 mln (€284 mln).

The New York-based international property company has exchanged contracts for the sale with vendors, West End of London Property Unit Trust (WELPUT), advised by Grafton Advisors and managed by Schroder Property; and Hermes Real Estate.

WELPUT and Hermes Real Estate acquired a unit trust vehicle, the sole asset of which is the long leasehold interest in The Point, in 2004. The building, which is situated directly opposite Paddington Station and adjacent to the Grand Union Canal, comprises 236,240 sq ft (just under 22,000 m2) of offices. It was designed by architect Terry Farrell and Partners and developed in 2003.

The Trust has pursued a strategy of regearing and renegotiating leases culminating in the refurbishment and reletting of five floors where rents of up to £57 per square foot were achieved last year. Occupiers include Everything Everywhere, Cerner, A2Dominion Housing Group, CH2MHill United Kingdom and CB&I UK.

Nigel Kempner of Grafton Advisors, strategic property adviser to the Trust, commented: 'WELPUT's investment into Paddington was timed to take advantage of rental growth which has been achieved as the area has matured into an established office location and the building is now fully modernised and leased. We have decided to capitalise on our good returns achieved at The Point whilst we continue to see interesting new opportunities across central London.'

The vendors were represented by DTZ and Strutt & Parker. The purchaser was represented by GVA.