Aware Super And Delancey Buy Finsbury Circus: The 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. 

Union Investment has sold Finsbury Circus House in the City to DARE, a joint venture between Delancey and Aware Super, in an approximately £140M off-market deal.

The deal means the joint venture has spent about £450M on three London offices in the past six months. It previously bought 20 Manchester Square for about £120M and 11-12 Hanover Square for more than £170M. Both those buildings are in the West End.

Union Investment acquired Finsbury Circus House in 1992 for its open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland. The property, which was fully let to the Bank of Tokyo at the time of purchase, was converted in 2012-2013 by Union Investment into a multitenant property after the bank moved out.

Following the sale, Union Investment holds eight office and hotel properties in London with a value of approximately €1.9B, in addition to holdings in regional UK cities and Dublin.

“The office segment is re-awakening from its slumber due to very strong fundamentals in the letting markets and a shortage of suitable product,” Union Investment Head of Investment Management Global Adam Irányi said in a statement. “The sale enables us to achieve our objectives to strategically optimise our portfolio and minimise future capital expenditure risk.” 

Travers Smith and CBRE advised Delancey and Aware Super, and DLA Piper and JLL advised Union Investment.

DEALS

Crosstree Real Estate Partners and urban warehouse investor Bloom have acquired two multilet industrial estates in London for their £200M last-mile industrial and logistics joint venture.

The acquisitions represent the second and third assets for the joint venture, following the acquisition of Fairview Business Centre in Hayes from A2 Dominion Group in September last year for £30M.

Hanwell Works in Ealing and 2-7 Centenary Road in Enfield were acquired off-market with vacant possession for £21M. Hanwell Works is a freehold, 1.4-acre, gated, standalone estate totalling 43K SF and was acquired from a private investor for £11M.

It has recently been vacated by Access Self Storage and will be converted into four units ranging from 4,500 SF to 18K SF. Centenary Road, a freehold, 2.1-acre terraced warehouse totalling 33,400 SF, was acquired from a publicly listed property company for £10M and will be split into four units ranging from 5,600 SF to 11K SF.

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Supermarket Income REIT has acquired a Tesco supermarket in Ashford, Kent, for £54M, reflecting a net initial yield of 7%.  

The food store comprises 93K SF gross internal area, a supermarket and a petrol filling station situated on an 8.2-acre site. Tesco has traded from the site for more than 30 years and uses the store as an online fulfilment hub as well as offering click-and-collect services.

The acquisition represents the first transaction for the company as it redeploys the proceeds following the formation of its recently announced joint venture with funds managed by Blue Owl Capital.

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Catesby Estates has completed the sale of Straits Mill, a 162-acre site in Braintree, Essex, to Barratt and David Wilson Homes Eastern Counties.

The site has outline consent for up to 1,000 new homes, including 30% affordable housing, land for a primary school and early years provision, as well as a retail centre and employment space that can be turned into offices or industrial units. 

Shakespeare Martineau acted for Catesby Estates, and the landowners were represented by BNP Paribas Real Estate's Strutt & Parker, Savills and Tees Law. Osborne Clarke advised Barratt and David Wilson Homes.

FINANCE

Elevation Advisors completed the first closing for Elevation Credit Partners III in the second quarter, which will enable ECP III to deploy £270M of debt financing in the UK senior housing real estate sector.

The company said that ECP III’s strategy is to provide operators and developers of UK senior housing with a range of customised financing options, including investment term loans, development loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity.

Loans will be between £10M and £100M, with loan-to-value ratios of up to 80% and terms of two to five years to support acquisitions, developments, lease-up, refinancing and recapitalisation.

ECP III has also completed its first transaction, providing financing to LNT Care Developments and Oyster Care Homes to refinance development lending and provide working capital for three newly constructed care homes operated by Oyster Care in Bexhill, Halling and Yeovil.  

DEVELOPMENT

Westminster City Council picked developer Altius Real Estate to redevelop a site between Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.

The 1960s Huguenot House tower block will be demolished to make way for a mixed-use scheme featuring new flats, a cinema, a hotel, offices and redesigned public realm.

Altius will work with contractor Erith and architect Foster + Partners on a full-scale transformation of the office block following years of consultation over its future, with the council in 2021 opting for a full redevelopment.

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Panattoni has secured a 10-acre site in Heathrow on the North Feltham Trading Estate, just 2 miles from Heathrow Airport.

The new development, Panattoni Park Heathrow, will see the construction of build-to-suit logistics space of up to 250K SF tailored to specific operational needs, the company said.

Ahead of submitting a planning application, Panattoni said it seeks build-to-suit prelet agreements to deliver flexible, purpose-built facilities for occupiers.  

PLANNING

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has launched the next stage of consultation on plans to redevelop Croydon town centre.

In the proposals, The Whitgift Centre would be transformed into a mixed-use area with new homes, shops and green space, while Centrale shopping centre will be refurbished to modernise the layout and attract major brands.

The historic Allders building will reopen with shops and food outlets this autumn, with longer-term plans to turn it into a hub for culture and learning while keeping its historic look.