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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. 

Led by The Crown Estate, a £1.5B GDV regeneration project will see Cambridge Business Park redeveloped as a variety of office and lab spaces for start-ups and established businesses, alongside a residential, leisure and cultural offer.

The project is part of The Crown Estate’s wider stated ambition to invest up to £1.5B in the science, technology, and innovation sectors nationally over the next 15 years.

Initial proposals for the transformation of Cambridge Business Park will be shared as part of public consultation, due to commence later this month, the company said.

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The Crown Estate has confirmed its latest Cambridge development plan for life sciences.

“Our vision for Cambridge Business Park is to create an inclusive and connected place that is industry leading in terms of sustainable and innovative workspace,” The Crown Estate CEO Dan Labbad said in a statement.

“We are confident Cambridge Business Park will play a pivotal role not only in enabling SMEs to scale up, but also in connecting and convening the brightest minds and organisations to innovate with impact, and support our wider aims of improving planetary health.” 

DEALS

Segro has signed a non-binding heads of terms and binding exclusivity agreement with Brookfield Property Group under which Segro will acquire a portfolio of six Tritax EuroBox assets for about €470M, or £391M.

The assets total nearly 4M SF of fully leased, modern logistics space in Germany and the Netherlands. They are located in the established logistics hubs of Breda and Roosendaal in the Netherlands, as well as in the Frankfurt corridor and the Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany.

The assets currently generate approximately €23M of headline rent, resulting in a blended net initial yield of 4.7% and a net true equivalent yield of 5.3%.

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AEW has completed the acquisition of 95 New Cavendish Street in the Fitzrovia district on behalf of its discretionary separate account mandate for a German pension fund focused on establishing a value-add real estate portfolio in major European markets.

The asset currently comprises 21K SF of office space arranged over lower ground, ground and four upper floors. The building, which was last refurbished in 1990, has planning consent for a repositioning programme, including the creation of an additional floor with almost 2K SF of new office space and a communal roof terrace.

The project will target net-zero carbon, both embodied and operational, and BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and WELL Platinum certifications, AEW said.

The asset is currently fully let to a property consultancy business on a short-term basis with works expected to begin early 2025 once the occupier has vacated.

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British Land has acquired Inverness Retail Park in Scotland from Greenridge Investment Management Limited for £28M in an off-market deal.

The out-of-town park comprises seven retail warehouse units and two drive thru units totalling 160K SF and the park is anchored by B&M, Dunelm, Hobbycraft, Matalan, plus a Bannatyne Gym, two storey McDonalds and a Costa drive thru. The scheme also has 617 car parking spaces on a site of approximately 14 acres.

The retail park is adjoined by Aldi and Tesco Extra stores.

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LEASING

Dalata Hotel Group has exchanged an agreement for lease for a new 4-star Clayton hotel to be developed on the Tower 42 Estate in the City of London.

Due to open in the second half of 2028 subject to planning approval, the full-service Clayton hotel will be developed at 20 Old Broad Street, EC2 and will include 154 bedrooms, a restaurant, a bar and a gym. The all-electric building will target a BREEAM excellent accreditation. 

On completion of construction, Dalata will commence operations in the hotel through a 25-year operating lease which will be subject to five-year rent reviews linked to CPI.

Dalata has opened four new UK locations this year, including the Maldron Hotel Shoreditch, which opened in August. This new hotel will bring Dalata’s operating presence in London to 1,030 rooms across six hotels.

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LaSalle Investment Management and Trilogy Real Estate have leased an additional 19K SF at The Amp, a newly refurbished education and innovation campus at 41-71 Commercial Road in Aldgate, east London, to the London College of Contemporary Arts.

LCCA’s expansion at the campus brings its total footprint within the building to 57K SF and means that The Amp is now close to fully let following its acquisition from the Department of Education in the summer of 2022 and a year after completing its refurbishment.  

Other education occupiers include De Montfort University, which arrived in September 2024 after signing an agreement for 18K SF, Nottingham Trent’s Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies and Access Creative College, both of which signed pre-lets totalling 55K SF. Specialist facilities, including recording studios, multi-performance space and a gaming and eSports arena, are also located on-site.

DEBT

Virgin Money has completed a £51M refinancing for the Hotel Amano Covent Garden in London, which in 2022 became the first international opening for the Berlin-based Amano group, which owns, develops and operates a portfolio of 15 hotels.

The London hotel was developed by Manex Properties, a joint venture between Amano and Excellion Capital. Woods Bagot London Studio was appointed as lead architect and interior designer.

CORPORATE

Telford Homes has launched a new brand identity as Telford Living, reflecting its focus on living classes including build-to-rent, purpose-built student accommodation, co-living and open market sales across the UK.

Telford Living said that it will adopt a flexible development approach, partnering with third-party general contractors to deliver its projects. The company has delivered over 15,000 apartments across 170 regeneration projects and currently has eight sites, totalling 4,400 apartments valued at £1.6B, under construction and in the pipeline.

“Our evolution will see a refined approach that is highly responsive to market conditions, a shift to a capital-led model and more flexible development approach, and expansion beyond London and into new product types,” Telford Living SVP Alex Taylor said in a statement.