This Week's London Deal Sheet
A weekly compilation of Greater London and beyond's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email tim.clark@bisnow.com.
Dominvs Group and operator Scape have completed the largest ever purpose-built student accommodation forward-funding deal in the UK market.
With Scape providing the £173M, the forward-funding deal will unlock the development of a 713-bed site in Hammersmith that was given planning consent in March.
The Hammersmith site in west London was reworked by Dominvs after initial planning consent was secured for two hotels. Developers have reworked the site at 181 Talgarth Road with support from Imperial College London prior to being given the thumbs up by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
At the southern end of the site, Dominvs is currently delivering a 400-key hotel for Premier Inn. The combined scheme has a gross development value of £270M.
The forward-funding deal with Scape follows similar deals with Federated Hermes and M&G Real Estate. Knight Frank advised on the deal.
SALES
Helical has agreed a further sale at its Barts Square scheme with the exchange of contracts for 55 Bartholomew Close. Valued at £16.5M, the joint venture between Helical and Baupost Group sold the property to a private European investor, with the sale price reflecting a net initial yield of 4.5%.
Originally three Victorian townhouses, the building on the western fringe of the City, was comprehensively refurbished to provide 11K SF of office space, over ground and five upper floors. It is let to five office tenants at an average rent of £72 per SF. It currently has one vacant floor.
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The Ministry of Justice has shelled out £111M to purchase an office block next to the Old Bailey to serve as a new tribunal centre. The seven-storey block at 7 Newgate will house employment tribunals, social security disputes, and child support cases from the end of next year.
The scheme is set close to both the famous central criminal court at the Old Bailey as well as the new financial crime court that is being built in Salisbury Square off Fleet Street.
FINANCE
Aviva Investors has provided £227M of investment in the form of a sustainability-linked loan to property group Romulus. The financing, which was placed on behalf of Aviva’s UK Life’s annuity business, is secured against a number of assets owned by Romulus in the hotel, office and retails sectors.
The deal means that Aviva has invested over £1B in sustainable transition loans three years earlier than planned.
LEASES
Kennedy Wilson has secured a 10-year lease with a games developer for 31K SF of office space at its 111 Buckingham Palace Road scheme.
The global real estate investment company has signed up Epic Games, which provides 3D engine technology for computer games to the office development. Epic Games now has a total lease agreement covering 72K SF.
The property, close to Victoria in central London, has now reached 100% occupancy, following the lease agreement with Verisure for 14K SF; Superbet for 18K SF; and Hambro Perks, which took 6K SF.
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IWG has opened a new 18.5K SF workspace as part of its plan to meet hybrid working demand. The new space in Finsbury Park, North London, aims to help workers cut their commuting time and enjoy the benefits of flexible workspace. The space has 82 offices, 30 coworking desks and three meeting rooms available for prospective tenants.
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Global vacuums and home appliances firm SharkNinja has agreed to take 25K SF of office space at Battersea Power Station. The company will rub shoulders with the likes of tech giant Apple, which has leased 500K SF, and is part of SharkNinja’s expansion plans in the UK.
The firm is set to fit out the space in the near future with a move-in date penned in for September.
PEOPLE
Global real estate private equity firm Henley Investments has appointed Monica Popescu as a new investment director. Popescu joins Henley from Colliers in Germany, where she led major transactions across all asset classes, latterly as head of portfolio investment & advisory.
She will focus on origination and execution of investment opportunities across Europe.
