Generali Real Estate has completed the purchase of Times Square, an office building located in Queen Victoria Street, in the heart of the City of London. The seller is the Blackstone Group. The acquisition of Times Square has been completed on behalf of two pan-European funds managed by Generali Real Estate SGR: 50% by the "Generali Europe Income Holding” (GEIH) fund, dedicated to core offices, and 50% by "SC GF Pierre", a fund dedicated to unit-linked policies of the French insurance company Generali Vie. For the operation, Generali Real Estate will obtain a loan from a pool of primary lending banks, for financial leverage up to 50%.
Times Square office building comprises 7 floors and 2 underground floors, with 35,000m² GLA, and is characterised by large terraces. It is currently under refurbishment, with completion expected at the end of 2022, and hosts the headquarters of BNY Mellon as the main tenant. The building is located at 160 Queen Victoria Street, close to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the London Stock Exchange. Several important real estate development projects have been completed in recent years in the district, consolidating it as the main business hub in London, chosen by many global companies such as Amazon, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Mizuho and Hogan Lovells for their European headquarters.
The building is conveniently accessible through public transport, being in close distance to the Blackfriars and St. Paul metro stations, and to the new Elizabeth metro line, opening in 2022, providing an easy connection to the Heathrow airport. The asset is perfectly in line with Generali Real Estate’s commitment to sustainability, with a pre-certification BREEAM Very Good and high Health and Well Being standards, and is coherent with the ESG investment guidelines of the Group.
Aldo Mazzocco, Head of Private Markets and Real Assets in the business unit Generali Asset & Wealth Management, commented: “The acquisition of the Times Square building marks the come-back of Generali Real Estate on the London market. As part of our investment strategy in the most interesting and dynamic cities across continental Europe and beyond, we confirm our conviction about London as one of the main investment targets of our strategy.”
