The West End of London Property Unit Trust ('WELPUT'), managed by Schroder Property and advised by Grafton Advisors, has acquired, by way of purchase of a corporate entity controlled by Crescent Heights, the freehold of 98 Theobalds Road, London, WC1 for £65 million (approx. 78.8 million), reflecting a net initial yield of 5.94%.
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98 Theobalds Road, London.
The 135,000-ft² (approx. 12,500-m²), nine-story office building is let in its entirety to Warner Bros Entertainment until September 2014 at a rental under £30 per ft². The building was substantially refurbished and rebuilt in the late 1990s by Land Securities, and offers short-term opportunities for WELPUT to improve the building and its leasing.
The opportunity was introduced to WELPUT by Allsop LLP. Norton Rose, solicitors, advised WELPUT and Greenberg Traurig Maher, solicitors and Everton Phillips, surveyors, advised Crescent Heights.
Nigel Kempner of Grafton Advisors said: "We had the opportunity to acquire this building in direct private negotiations with the vendor. We like the location of the building which is in an area where we anticipate substantial market improvements and it is a well let building currently but providing the opportunity to enhance the value of the building in the short term."
Eric Hopkins, Acquisitions Director of Crescent Heights, commented: "Having acquired the asset in 2009, we are very pleased to have achieved this disposal enabling us to extract significant value from our investment and marking the successful conclusion of our first acquisition in the London office market."
Source: FTI Consulting
