This Week's London Deal Sheet
The Deal Sheet is 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 mark.faithfull@bisnow.com.
Listed company Helical has entered into a joint venture arrangement for the redevelopment of 100 New Bridge Street in the City, selling a 50% interest for £55M on a preferred equity basis to a vehicle led by Orion Capital Managers.
The building, completed in 1992, will be taken back to the frame and refurbished, with new cladding and two additional floors. The net internal area of the office space will be 191K SF on the first to 10th floors with 3.6K SF of retail on the ground floor and a 4.4K SF terrace on the eighth floor.
Simultaneous to the joint venture being signed, the parties entered into a development financing arrangement with NatWest and an institutional lender — NatWest is providing £50M of the £155M facility. The proceeds will be used to fund Helical’s ongoing development pipeline, the company said.
Construction work has already started and is scheduled to complete in March 2026.
DEALS
Italian real estate group Gruppo Statuto has signed a binding agreement to buy Six Senses London, which is part of The Whiteley redevelopment.
Gruppo Statuto has bought the 109-room hotel, which is expected to open in early 2025, for £180M. It holds a 30-year agreement to manage and brand the hotel, with the future ability to extend. Six Senses London will also be home to 14 branded and fully furnished luxury residences of one and two bedrooms.
The Whiteley is being developed by a joint venture between Hong Kong investor CC Land and fund manager MARK.
Spartan Advisors and Taylor Wessing acted for the seller, while Baker McKenzie advised Gruppo Statuto on the transaction.
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The site of the former Debenhams department store in Oxford is to be repurposed into a circa 100K SF life sciences, technology and innovation space, as The Crown Estate partners with Oxford Science Enterprises and Pioneer Group to provide lab space in the city.
The project is receiving an initial investment of £125M by The Crown Estate, marking the start of a partnership that the companies said has a long-term aim to invest up to £1.5B in the UK’s science, technology and innovation sectors.
The Crown Estate acquired the long leasehold of the former Debenhams site from DTZ Investors, with the total investment including the purchase price and projected capital investment. Subject to planning, construction will begin next year, with the lab space due to be fully operational by 2028.
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Single-family build-to-rent developer Present Made has formed a joint venture with housebuilder Miller Homes to deliver a 650-home, mixed-tenure scheme in Bedfordshire, currently named Mill View.
The 170-acre site will provide a mixture of private-sale, affordable and single-family BTR housing, with construction planned to begin in Q4 and the first homes expected to be delivered in 2025.
Located in a cluster of villages 13 minutes south of central Bedford, the site forms part of the wider Wixam Park master plan, which includes more than 1,500 homes and 5 acres of commercial land.
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Fiera Real Estate and Wrenbridge have completed the off-market acquisition of a second site in Heathrow, increasing the total land owned to 19 acres.
The companies said it plans to speculatively develop another Grade A urban logistics scheme, known as Air Heathrow, across the combined sites with a combined gross development value estimated at £100M.
They will speculatively build four mid-box logistics units across the two sites totalling approximately 150K SF.
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Family office Aspida Capital has completed the purchase of 105-109 Oxford Street for £18.5M in partnership with another family office.
The property has two long-term retail tenants, Flying Tiger and Harmony, producing a passing rent of £1.1M per annum. There is a planned review for a minimum overall rent increase in 2025 to £1.25M, the companies said in the announcement.
Thor Equities was the previous owner and acquired the building in 2015 for £42M.
CORPORATE
The board of Capital & Regional has confirmed that on 19 April it received a takeover proposal from Vukile Property Fund.
In addition, the board said that it was aware that its majority shareholder Growthpoint Properties, which holds 68.13% of the company’s issued share capital, has also received a preliminary expression of interest from NewRiver REIT in relation to a possible takeover offer.
Capital & Regional said it has not received an offer proposal from NewRiver and added that under stock market rules both Vukile and NewRiver will have to make a firm intention to make an offer by no later than 5pm on 20 June.
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Real estate investment group Stoneweg has entered into a binding agreement with Cromwell Property Group to acquire Cromwell’s European fund management platform and associated co-investments, which total €3.9B of real estate assets under management, for €280M.
Stoneweg is acquiring a 100% interest in Cromwell Europe; a 27.8% unitholding in CEREIT, a real estate investment trust listed in Singapore with a €2.2B portfolio; a 100% interest in the Singapore-based manager of CEREIT; and a 50% interest in the Cromwell Urban Italy Logistics Fund.
Across a mix of core, core-plus and value-add funds and mandates, Cromwell’s European platform comprises more than 160 assets and 1,600 tenants, with 14 offices based in 12 European countries.
FINANCE
Investec Real Estate has arranged a £55M loan for purpose-built student accommodation and living specialist Scape to fund the development of a co-living scheme in Walthamstow. The transaction represents Investec’s third facility in the sector.
Scape has secured consent for the construction of a 321-bed co-living scheme at 1 Blackhorse Lane, which will launch under its living brand Morro. Due for completion in 2025, the scheme will include shared residential amenity spaces, a ground-floor public café and retail unit, and a purpose-built music and comedy venue.
Investec’s previous co-living exposure includes providing a joint venture between Scape and HG Construction with a £53.5M senior debt facility in 2021 to fund the development of 403 Scape PBSA beds and 113 Morro living units in Guildford.
DEVELOPMENT
Property developer Rockwell has submitted proposals by architect Farrels to redevelop a brownfield site to deliver 142 new homes in Battersea.
The Glassmill at 1 Battersea Bridge Road is one of the oldest buildings in the Ransomes Dock area, and Rockwell’s proposals commit the company to provide 35% of the units as affordable housing, with 70% designated for social rent.
The regeneration will also provide over 5.7K SF of office floor space alongside a new community hub and public realm improvements, including a new Waterfront Plaza.
