Purchase: The Horseferry Building, Horseferry Road, London, SW1

Derwent London Plc are Central London refurbishment experts. They sought a property that both represented good commercial value and could be refurbished to provide luxurious office accommodation.

We purchased this remarkable building, comprising 155,000 sq ft of office accommodation in 2005 on their behalf, for £32,000,000 from the Secretary of State, on sale and leaseback terms.

The Horseferry Building was comprehensively redesigned and refurbished in 2006 by architects Alford Hall Monaghan Morris, to provide 162,897 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation on basement, ground and seven upper floors.

The entire building was subsequently pre-let to global fashion brand Burberry as their iconic new global headquarters.

Off Market Purchase: Aviation House, 125/129 Kingsway, London, WC2

Our private clients were searching for a high-quality building in a good office location, that provided very secure long term income let to investment grade tenants, with guaranteed rental uplifts.

Aviation House comprises of 132,228 sq ft of Grade A offices let to the Secretary of State for twenty years from December 2000, a 25,000 sq ft unit let to Sainsbury’s until October 2035 and a 5,000 sq ft retail unit let to Boots until 2025.

We secured the property for our clients, off-market and at sensible pricing levels, for £95,000,000 from London and Regional Properties.

(Update: The building was sold two years after initial purchase to a private investor for £112,000,000.)

Off Market Purchase: Prince’s House, 192-196 Piccadilly & 36-40 Jermyn Street, London W1

Morley Fund Management were searching for a well-located multi-let West End investment that provided a mixed income profile.

We sourced and purchased Prince’s House off-market on their behalf, for £63,500,000, from a private investor.

The total size of this distinctive building is circa 78,012 sq ft, combining offices, retail, leisure and residential.

The offices were let to nine tenants with expiries/breaks between 2006 and 2016; Retail units were let to 17 tenants, also with expiries/breaks between 2006 and 2016, with tenants including Orange and Lladro; Leisure (including the exclusive Tramp night club) was let to 2023; a two-bedroom townhouse completed the mix.

Off Market Purchase: 20 Soho Square, Soho, London, W1

Our institutional client, Morley Fund Management (now Aviva) were searching for a good quality multi-let office investment, well located in the West End of London. Through our market knowledge of buildings and ownerships, we identified 20 Soho Square as a potential off market purchase.

The building comprises of 59,145 sq ft of high quality offices, with ancillary retail space. Tenants included: Hill and Knowlton and Andrew Aldridge.

We secured the freehold interest for our client, off-market, at a price of £52,500,000 from IVG.

Off Market Sale: 77-95 Victoria Street, London SW1

Freehold office and retail building located in a prominent position on the south side of Victoria Street. It was originally built as a residential building. Our client refurbished it in 2005.

We acted on behalf of a private client and sold the property, realising a significant profit.

The total size of the building is circa 52, 676 sq ft, over lower ground to seventh floors.

The offices were let to Avanta, with the lease expiry in June 2021. Retail tenants included: Alliance and Leicester and Pizza Express.

We sold the building on behalf of our client on an 'off-market' basis, for £25,700,000 to a Merrill Lynch.

St Anne House, 20-26 Wellesley Road, Croydon

We were instructed by Invista to sell the freehold of St Anne House, located opposite the Whitgift Shopping Centre in Croydon.

The building comprises 73,234 sq ft of offices over Ground to 12th floors, let to the Government (Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions) and Mott McDonald).

We sold the investment to Wichford for £15,250,000, realising a good profit for our client.

Warwick House, Kensington Village, London W8

The property is located within Kensington Village: a 4.2 acre site and is one of the seven buildings that form the campus.

The building comprises 79,617 sq ft of high specification offices with 45 car parking spaces. It is single let to DMB&B to March 2021.

We purchased the virtual freehold interest of Warwick House (which was marketed by the vendor on a ‘selective basis)’ on behalf of Mountgrange for £36,500,000.

Stanley Green Retail Park, Cheadle, Manchester

Stanley Green Retail Park is located 9 miles south of Manchester and comprises 5 units totalling circa 91,500 sq ft organised in a linear terrace, which is anchored by a 45,000 sq ft B&Q. The park also includes Next, TK Maxx, Comet and Halfords.

The average unexpired leases were approximately 8 years at the date of purchase.

We purchased the property (which was marketed on a selective basis) on behalf of Henderson Global Investors (Herald Pan European Retail Fund) for £35,620,000 reflecting a net initial yield of 7%. Our client then sold the property for £47,000,000 within 12 months of purchase.

Gartmore House, 8 Fenchurch Place, London EC3

Gartmore House is located above Fenchurch Street Station in the heart of the City of London’s insurance district.

The office development was originally completed by Norwich Union in 1987 to a high quality specification. The accommodation is arranged over lower ground, ground and five upper floors.

The building was let to Gartmore Investment Management for a term expiring in September 2012.

We acted on behalf of PMB Holdings/AREA and purchased the property for £32,700,000.

147-155 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1

We were instructed to sell 147-155 Wardour Street on behalf of ING Real Estate.

The building comprises retail and offices totalling circa 27,500 sq ft arranged over lower ground to 5th floors.

Tenants include Hakkasan and The One Campaign.

The property was purchased by Threadneedle for £17,350,000, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.91%.