Barclays Real Estate has provided the Tishman Speyer Core European Fund with a £109-million (approx. 124.5-million) commercial investment loan facility to purchase Sanctuary Buildings, a landmark freehold office building in Great Smith Street, Westminster let to the UK Government.
Tishman Speyer purchased the 227,000-ft² (approx. 21,000-m²) property, which is occupied by the Department for Education on a lease expiring in 2017, from Irish property company Vico Capital.
The US-based real estate and real estate-related investor is one of the leading owners, developers, operators, and managers of real estate in the world. Since its inception, Tishman Speyer has managed a portfolio of assets of over 116 million ft² and more than 92,000 residential units in major metropolitan areas across the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
The acquisition is an ideal fit with the Fund's strategy of investing in large, prime, stabilized office assets in major European cities that will deliver on-going yield and longer term capital growth.
Janet Shaw, Relationship Director, Barclays Real Estate, said: "Our strong track record in delivering tailored funding solutions to major real estate sponsors ensured we were able to provide the best possible solution to meet Tishman's funding needs.
"This transaction demonstrates the bank's continued support for the UK real estate sector with well-structured finance packages for sector-leading sponsors."
Source: Barclays
