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.
Moody's has confirmed that its new headquarters will be located at CBRE Investment Management’s 10 Gresham Street in the City of London, and the ratings agency will move to its new premises when its lease at One Canada Square in Canary Wharf expires in 2026.
Moody's will occupy nearly 111K SF of office space at 10 Gresham Street, with an option for an additional 32K SF of Grade A space.
The interior of the Foster + Partners designed building has been designed by Gensler, and the 145K SF office refurbishment will introduce a 2.6K SF private roof terrace for Moody’s with a further 2.6K SF communal roof terrace featuring an eight-story glazed atrium, with a communal indoor rooftop pavilion totalling 1.75K SF.
Following its refurbishment, 10 Gresham Street is targeting BREEAM Outstanding, WELL Platinum, plus an EPC B rating.
DEALS
Savills Investment Management’s Simply Affordable Homes fund has completed its first acquisition of 100 homes from Park Properties Housing Association.
The circa 200 properties, located across the south of England, east of England and the Midlands, are spread across 11 sites, and the portfolio comprises a mix of already-tenanted homes and homes that will be completed in 2024 and 2025 on a forward commit basis. Savills IM announced the first close of the fund in April this year.
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Cain International has acquired St James House in partnership with UK-based real estate developer Olympian Homes and has announced redevelopment plans for the student scheme, set to be the tallest in Bristol at 28 storeys.
It will provide 574 beds and will bring Cain’s PBSA equity platform to a total gross development value of approximately £800M with the delivery of 3,000 beds across the UK following the development of five PBSA assets completed in 2023.
Developed by Olympian Homes, St James House will comprise two towers, one with 442 beds and the other offering 132 larger co-living units. The project will include approximately 15K SF of amenity space, including a cinema room, a fitness suite, study areas, a games room and group dining facilities.
DEVELOPMENT
Updated proposals for 1 Undershaft, led by development manager Stanhope, have been submitted to the City of London with reconfigured lower floors and improved surrounding public realm.
The proposed revisions retain significantly more of St Helen’s Square than previous proposals, achieved by moving the southern façade further north and combining the public entrances in a new, raised grand lobby, Stanhope said.
The building will offer a free-to-access garden on the 11th floor, a 20-metre public screen facing St Helen’s Square and an educational space curated by the London Museum.
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An outline masterplan to regenerate over 30 acres of brownfield land at Bow Goods Yard, East London, into a rail freight campus and last-mile logistics hub has been approved by the London Legacy Development Corporation.
Bow Goods Yard is the final parcel of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic legacy land to be unlocked. It is Network Rail Property’s first independent planning submission and has the potential to deliver a new centralised hub for Network Rail, according to the infrastructure business.
Under the industrial-led masterplan, up to 3M SF of logistics space will be created, including heavy and light industrial space. Additionally, a range of leisure uses are proposed, with the flexibility for up to 350K SF of leisure plus 35K SF of food and beverage alongside 55K SF of sports pitches.
LEASING
French Connection and Rituals are to take space at London Designer Outlet at Wembley Park. French Connection has opened a 1.9K SF store after agreeing a three-year lease, while Rituals is set to open its new 2.4K SF store at the end of October after signing a 10-year lease.
The signing of French Connection and Rituals comes after LDO reported a record-breaking August with sales growing by 12.5% year-on-year, exceeding £10M.
DEBT
Homeless housing investor Home REIT is set to pay off its debts to Scottish Widows after selling further properties within its real estate portfolio earlier this year.
In an update to the market the company said that it had sold another 11% of its remaining housing for £26.8M, in a move which will clear the way for the company’s closure. After the deals have gone through, Home REIT said it would have sufficient cash to pay off the remaining £72M it owes to Scottish Widows.
PEOPLE
Real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield has appointed Mark Phelps and Jack Lloyd to its retail team as partners.
Phelps has more than 25 years’ experience in the out-of-town market and is currently a principal at Avison Young. He was previously an equity partner with Wilkinson Williams.
Lloyd is a Director at Avison Young’s investment team, focused primarily on acquisitions and disposals in the retail parks and food stores sector.
