London Business School, one of the world’s leading business schools, has announced the acquisition of a major new building adjacent to their Sussex Place home on The Regent’s Park, advised by real estate investment, development and advisory company Delancey.
Acquired from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Crown Estate, the neighbouring 60,000 ft² 27 Sussex Place building joins London Business School’s impressive portfolio and will see RCOG take a lease back for up to three years, following which they will relocate away from The Regent’s Park.
The Sussex Place transaction comes just a few years after the acquisition of the historic Old Marylebone Town Hall on a long leasehold interest from Westminster Council, with a £50m fit-out and extension of the building from 70,500 ft² to 95,500 ft². Following a £25m donation from Idan Ofer, industrialist and principal of the Quantum Pacific Group, the cutting-edge teaching and learning facility will be named ‘Sammy Ofer Centre’ in honour of Idan’s late father, Sammy Ofer KBE, a distinguished shipping magnate and philanthropist.
Supporting London Business School’s ambition to provide more space for research and teaching, Delancey has also worked to maximise London Business School’s existing land-holdings. At their Sussex Place site, planning permission was achieved to increase the site from 200,000 ft² to 300,000 ft²and an important re-gearing of an existing lease with the Crown Estate was secured. This has enabled the school to pursue their ambition to remain in situ for the next 125 years – an ambition significantly bolstered by a £25m donation from British chemical engineer and industrialist, Jim Ratcliffe in June of last year.
Mark Enderby, Development Director for Delancey commented: “We are delighted to support London Business School in their ambition to build their property portfolio, which will allow the School to prosper financially and hopefully house some of the world’s new business leaders for generations to come. We look forward to continuing to provide advisory services for London Business School.”
Professor Sir Andrew Likierman, Dean, London Business School said: “As a business school judged by others to be one of the world leaders, we are committed to increasing our impact in the years to come through an increase in faculty and research as well as more students and alumni. To achieve this, we have invested substantially in our London campus and Delancey’s support has been hugely helpful in achieving our expansion plans.”
London Business School is a global leader in management education and is consistently ranked among the top five business schools in the world.
