New York-listed REIT WP Carey has acquired a government-occupied office centre in the UK.
New York-listed REIT WP Carey has acquired a government-occupied office centre in the UK.
The total cost of the property in Manchester, which was leased to the Department of State for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), was about £40 mln (€47 mln).
WP Carey is best known as a sale-and-leaseback specialist but in this case it acquired the lease from a third-party vendor.
The centre is leased to the DCLG on a 15-year, triple-net lease and is currently occupied by the UK’s tax department, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC). HMRC has consolidated its staff from several locations into the building, which now accommodates 2,000 employees.
Manchester is the UK’s third-largest city, with the most active office market outside of London. The facility is located in Salford to the west of the city centre in a key regeneration area. The on-going redevelopment in the area is expected to increase the attractiveness of the location and have a positive impact on the local real estate market.
WP Carey is a real estate investment trust that provides long-term sale-leaseback and build-to-suit financing for companies worldwide. The investor owns and manages a portfolio totalling $15.4 bn (€11.6 bn), with European assets accounting for €2.7 bn.
