Shaftesbury buys £87m Soho office block
LGIM Real Assets has sold 72 Broadwick Street, a mixed-use office and residential scheme in central London, to Shaftesbury for £87m as the West End landlord embarks on a £265m fundraise.
Shaftesbury has gone shopping in Carnaby Street with the acquisition of 72 Broadwick Street.
The asset was acquired by LGIM Real Assets in January 2015 for £67m as the first purchase for its office joint venture partnership between Legal & General Capital and Dutch pension fund manager, PGGM.
Located at the eastern entrance to Carnaby Street, the building provides 54,100 sq ft of office accommodation, eleven apartments and a large basement car park.
Nigel Fuller, senior fund manager at Legal & General, said: “This is a fantastic deal for the partnership and testament to the strength of our central London office strategy. Through clever stock picking and active asset management, the team has delivered an exceptional outcome for our investors and strong returns. We will now seek to deploy this capital into other market opportunities where we see further value.”
Seperately, Shaftesbury announced it was looking to raise £265m in a share placing. The placing, which is priced at 952p – a 5% discount to last week’s closing price, will be used to finance the 72 Broadwick Street deal as well as the recent purchase of 90-104 Berwick St for £41m. It will also provide funding for further buying opportunities and asset management initiatives.
Shaftesbury chief executive Brian Bickell said: “We are pleased to have secured the important, strategic ownership of 72 Broadwick Street, in the centre of Carnaby. It offers exciting opportunities to reconfigure space on the lower floors to provide new restaurant and retail space, adding to Carnaby’s renowned variety of shops, restaurants and leisure choices. The upgraded office and residential accommodation will benefit from their proximity to the new Crossrail ticket hall on Dean Street and Broadwick Street’s growing profile and footfall as a major east-west route in Soho.
”Securing additional equity will support the continuing expansion of, and investment in, our exceptional portfolio located in the heart of London’s West End.”
Hanover Green advised Shaftesbury on the purchase of 72 Broadwick Street.
