Google Considers £700M Sale of Central St Giles: 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.
Google is reportedly preparing to bring its office building at Central St Giles to market. It acquired the building, which is near Tottenham Court Road station, for about £762.5M in 2022.
CBRE is advising Google on the sales process, CoStar reported, though neither the adviser nor the tech giant has commented so far. Any deal is expected to be structured as a sale-leaseback, which could fetch up to £700M. Google is to move staff to its 1M SF under-construction building at King's Cross Central once it completes later this year.
The tech giant extended its lease at the Central St Giles development in 2020 when it was first linked to acquiring the development, then co-owned by Legal & General Investment Management and Mitsubishi Estate.
Google occupies around 40% of the development, which provides 408K SF of office floor space. It also includes more than 100 homes, half of which are affordable, and 25K SF of retail and restaurant units around a public piazza.
DEALS
NewRiver has completed the sale of Cuckoo Bridge Retail Park in Dumfries to an institutional investor for £26.5M, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.9%.
With this transaction, NewRiver has completed £110M of disposals in the fiscal year 2026, which has increased the company’s cash holdings to more than £100M and reduced group loan-to-value ratio to below 40%.
Since the acquisition in 2016, NewRiver has enhanced the tenant lineup at Cuckoo Bridge, including a new lease on the former Homebase unit to Sainsbury’s and the reconfiguration of two units into redesigned formats let to Food Warehouse and Next.
LEASING
Gilead Sciences is taking 50K SF of workspace at British Land and Royal London Asset Management’s 300K SF One Triton Square, Regent’s Place.
The development reached practical completion in October and has completed five deals totalling 71K SF, including the lease to Gilead Sciences, meaning the building is now 77% let or under offer.
“The success of the building reinforces our conviction in taking strategic surrender premiums, upgrading space and securing high-quality lettings that unlock superior rents,” British Land Head of Real Estate Kelly Cleveland said in a statement.
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Dalata Hotel Group has agreed a lease for a new four-star Maldron hotel on Hammersmith Road in Kensington, adjacent to the recently redeveloped £1.3B Olympia London exhibition centre.
The Maldron Kensington will be Dalata’s seventh hotel in London and follows Scandic Hotels Group’s assumption of operational responsibility for Dalata’s hotel portfolio after the acquisition by Pandox and Eiendomsspar.
The full-service, four-star Maldron hotel is scheduled to open in 2029, subject to planning approval, and will comprise approximately 370 rooms, a restaurant, a bar, a gym and a business centre.
The project will be delivered in partnership with McAleer & Rushe Property and will involve the conversion and extension of a vacant office building. Designed as an all-electric building, the hotel will incorporate heat pump technology and target a BREEAM Excellent accreditation.
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International Workplace Group is to open its first Humanly workspace, designed to meet demand from practitioners across the healthcare and well-being industries at Dockside Chatham Maritime.
Humanly is a new IWG brand, and the first location will offer a range of specialist rooms and facilities, including private consultation suites, treatment rooms, therapy and physio spaces, gym studios, and reception and waiting areas.
“By removing upfront investment and long-term commitments, healthcare and wellbeing professionals in Chatham gain the freedom to build sustainable, profitable practices on their own terms,” IWG CEO Mark Dixon said in a statement.
PLANNING
Developer Hadley Property Group has gained planning for a large-scale redevelopment of the former GlaxoSmithKline headquarters in Brentford, west London. The scheme at 980 Great West Road spans 13 acres and will involve 2,300 homes being built across a mix of tenures, with 35% classed as affordable.
The plans also include around 330K SF of commercial and retail space, creating a new mixed-use neighbourhood. Hadley bought the site three years ago and plans to retain and adapt two major buildings from the original campus — including the landmark tower — to cut embodied carbon and deliver new homes.
Studio Egret West is leading the tower’s redesign while also working on new affordable housing, and more than 60% of the site is earmarked for public realm.
PEOPLE
Fiera Real Estate UK has appointed Ben Coles as chairman, succeeding Ray Palmer, who has moved to a nonexecutive position on the board. The appointment reflects the next phase of Fiera's growth strategy as the platform expands its presence across the UK and Europe, the company said.
Ray Palmer founded Palmer Capital in 1993, which later became the European arm of Fiera Real Estate, following a partnership in 2019.
Coles brings more than 25 years of real estate experience to the role, including 22 years at Wrenbridge, 15 of which as its CEO.
