CBRE Investment Management has acquired Exchange Place One, a Grade A office building on Semple Street in Edinburgh from a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management. The property comprises 114,748ft² of office space spread over ground and five upper floors, a basement car park and one ancillary retail unit. The space offers impressive views of Edinburgh Castle, good floor-to-ceiling heights and high levels of natural light, as well as large, flexible floor plates of 20,000ft².
Exchange Place One is located in Edinburgh’s Exchange quarter, which is popular with financial services businesses. Four floors of the building are occupied by Blackrock; other occupiers include Hymans Robertson, Cundalls, Cameron Hume and Evans Cycles. The acquisition of Exchange Place One, which currently has a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating, provides the Fund with an opportunity to create an ESG-focused office building that meets strong market demand for sustainable, central office space with large floorplates. Plans for the asset include a comprehensive internal refurbishment with a significant focus on improving the building’s ESG credentials that will include a full decarbonisation strategy.
Jamie Phillips, Fund Manager of the CBRE UK Property PAIF at CBRE Investment Management, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to acquire a Grade A office building in a fantastic location. Edinburgh is a vibrant city and its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site places certain constraints on future commercial development within the city. This is in part underpinning the undersupply of Grade A stock, which is at its lowest levels for 20 years. Exchange Place One has impressive floor plates, which can be hard to come by in Edinburgh. Our business plan is focused on taking the building to the next level, creating a top-quality office building that gives Edinburgh’s corporate occupiers a sense of place and the strong sustainability credentials that tenants are quite rightly demanding.”
Christian Goebel, Co-Head of Macquarie Asset Management’s Real Estate team in Europe, said: We are pleased to be able to pass the baton at Exchange Place One after successfully delivering our business plan for this landmark building on behalf of our investors. Exchange Place One has been a great addition to our portfolio, and we look forward to transacting further assets in the United Kingdom in the pursuit of our ambitious growth plans in the real estate sector.”
