Henderson Park Buys Iconic Lloyd's Building: 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.
Henderson Park has agreed to purchase 70 Fenchurch Street, EC3, from Lloyd’s Register Group. The property was guiding at a price of £90M.
Built in 2000 and commissioned by Lloyd’s Register for its occupation, the Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners-designed building currently extends over 13 storeys and two basement levels, totalling 215K SF with floors ranging from 5K SF to 22K SF.
Henderson Park and development manager YardNine will reposition the asset to provide Grade-A office accommodation, including a new arrival experience, roof terraces, end-of-trip facilities and enhancements to the building’s ESG credentials, the companies said.
The project is targeted to be ready for occupation in 2028, and RSHP will be appointed as architect alongside Arup, both of which worked on the building’s original design for Lloyd’s Register.
DEALS
Alternative asset management platform Hayfin Capital Management, in partnership with Capreon, has acquired 70 St Mary Axe in the City of London from Nuveen Real Estate for an undisclosed sum.
The 21-storey, Grade-A office tower was developed by Nuveen and opened in 2019, receiving BREEAM Excellent certification. The property is currently fully let to 13 blue-chip tenants.
The transaction was majority-funded by Hayfin and supported by Capreon, with which Hayfin has worked on real estate investments since 2017. In addition to its investment, Capreon will be the asset manager.
This follows Hayfin’s acquisition of Gropius Passagen, Berlin’s largest shopping centre, from Nuveen in September, bringing Hayfin to over €3B deployed into more than 40 real estate deals since inception.
“Occupier demand for top-tier City offices with strong sustainability credentials remains robust, tracking significantly above the long-term average,” Hayfin Managing Director Carlos Colomer said in a statement.
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Harrison Street Asset Management has sold a student housing portfolio comprising 1,616 beds across six properties located in university cities, including London, Birmingham, Belfast, Leicester, Edinburgh and Cardiff, to AustralianSuper.
The assets — The Aspen, Aster House, Huxley Studios, Wick Park, Howard Gardens and Compass — were all built from 2020-2023 and feature amenities such as gyms, terraces, coffee bars, lounges and social spaces.
Earlier this year, AustralianSuper announced the creation of a UK living platform to fund the purchase and development of UK residential assets.
HSAM has been investing in the European student housing market since 2015 and has invested approximately €2.8B in European student accommodation, with a portfolio of 63 student housing properties totalling over 21,600 beds across the UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.
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City Developments Ltd, a Singapore-based property investor, has acquired the Holiday Inn London Kensington High Street for £280M.
The 706-room freehold hotel, covering 68.4K SF, was purchased through CDL’s wholly-owned subsidiary Copthorne Hotel Holdings at approximately £396,600 per room. The property achieved over 97% occupancy in the nine months to September 2025, generating annual revenues exceeding £39M, according to CDL.
Located on Kensington High Street, the hotel sits adjacent to CDL’s 833-room Copthorne Tara Hotel. The transaction expands CDL’s portfolio of central London hotel rooms to more than 3,000, including The Biltmore Mayfair, Millennium Gloucester and Copthorne Tara.
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Northern LGPS and Local Pensions Partnership Investments have acquired the operating arm of PRS REIT and are planning to invest £1B to grow the portfolio to 15,000 homes over the next decade.
The £1.1B deal means the vendor’s entire portfolio of 5,478 single-family homes is now under the ownership of Northern LGPS and LPPI.
Northern LGPS is made up of the Greater Manchester, Merseyside and West Yorkshire Local Government Pension Scheme funds, and LPPI manages assets on behalf of Lancashire County Pension Fund, the London Pensions Fund Authority and Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund.
The newly acquired homes are spread across 71 sites in the UK.
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Arada has exchanged contracts to acquire 99-101 Newington Causeway, London SE1. The 0.65-acre site comprises two buildings, including a 10-storey building with a basement, and was previously home to the Salvation Army UK and Ireland headquarters before its move to Denmark Hill in 2023.
The site will be delivered by Arada London, part of the Arada Group, which said it will be seeking planning consent to deliver a hotel and its first coliving project in the capital.
The Salvation Army UK and Ireland Territory was advised by Savills.
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TT Group has completed the sale of the freehold interest in an industrial development site in Croydon, south London, to Kennedy Wilson.
The sale follows TT Group securing outline planning approval for a scheme of up to 115K SF of flexible, light industrial space on the 4.6-acre site on Horatius Way in March 2025, creating a gross development value of up to £50M.
Previously occupied by BT, the site formerly housed 50K SF of industrial accommodation that was demolished in 2024. It is currently let to truck parking operator Park Your Truck on a three-year lease.
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Mago Capital has acquired a prime mixed‑use block adjacent to High Street Kensington Underground Station marketed for about £27M, continuing its rapid expansion across central London. It bought the block together with Eastway Estates, the investment arm of Prideview Group.
The freehold corner property in west London totals 24K SF across ground, basement and four upper floors. It comprises five retail units let to Vodafone, Philip Morris, Rituals, Läderach and Paris Baguette, plus a dental practice and 20 residential flats.
PLANNING
Scotland's first Center Parcs holiday village has won planning permission, with work to start in 2026 on the £450M development near Hawick in the Scottish Borders.
The park will be called Center Parcs Scottish Borders and is expected to open in summer 2029.
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Railpen, manager of the £34B Railways Pension Scheme in the UK, has received consent to develop a 1M SF laboratory and innovation park in Cambridge called Beehive.
The approval was granted by Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed, following his predecessor’s decision earlier this year to call in the application.
Currently a retail park, Railpen’s plans will transform Beehive into an innovation park with workspaces for technology businesses, laboratories, a new community park, a youth and community hub, a science centre, and around 20 new shops, restaurants and cafés.
DEVELOPMENT
Ballymore and Penta Real Estate have formed a 50-50 joint venture to deliver over 680 new homes across two London sites with a combined gross development value of more than £700M.
Both projects have secured planning consent, with construction already underway. Cuba Street will be a 52-storey residential tower located adjacent to Canary Wharf, while The Capston is the final phase of Ballymore’s Embassy Gardens regeneration in Nine Elms. The joint venture aims to deliver the homes by 2029.
The JV is privately owned Penta’s debut into the UK real estate market, and it has established an office in London and is actively exploring further opportunities, the company said.
PEOPLE
Investec Bank has appointed Joe Armstrong as head of capital raising for its real estate equity platform REALIS, the company said, as it looks to scale in response to growing demand from private wealth investors for exposure to institutional-quality UK real estate opportunities.
Based in London and reporting to Head of Investec REALIS Yon Papageorgiou, Armstrong will be responsible for expanding Investec’s capital partner network, connecting both the direct wealth segment of the market and third-party distribution partners with REALIS.
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Knight Frank has announced that Rory Penn will succeed William Beardmore-Gray as the firm’s senior partner and group chair in April 2027. Headquartered in London, Knight Frank has more than 20,000 people operating from over 600 offices across 50 markets.
Penn, who is currently Knight Frank’s head of London residential sales, chair of its Global Private Office and a member of the UK Board, will join the firm’s Group Executive Board in April 2026, beginning a yearlong transition period ahead of taking up the role.
