London’s commercial property market is continuing to boom with Lothbury Investment Management, on behalf of the Lothbury Property Trust, completing the purchase of 12 Soho Square and 3 – 5 Soho Street in the West End for €29.3m (£22m) from a private Far Eastern investor.
The 1,500m2 office building comprises a basement, ground floor and five upper floors and is multi-let to a number of media and communications companies, with retail at the ground floor level.
Acquired in an off market deal, the property is close to the Tottenham Court Road’s new Crossrail station as well as a number of Lothbury’s existing holdings in the Soho and Fitzrovia area. The building offers a range of refurbishment or full redevelopment opportunities.
Michael Toft, senior fund manager and executive director at Lothbury Investment Management, commented: “Demand remains very high for office space around Soho, which, with the arrival of Crossrail, is providing more opportunities for rental income growth. The building itself fits well within our portfolio of assets in and around Fitzrovia and offers us a variety of asset management initiatives to follow, from a rolling refurbishment of individual suites to a complete redevelopment of the site.”
It is expected that 12 Soho Square will form part of Lothbury’s active portfolio of assets in the medium term. Lothbury Property Trust operates a combination of well-managed core assets comprising prime, well located properties secured on strong covenants, across a variety of commercial sectors, and with very low vacancy rates. Their active portfolio, which makes up between 10% and 20% of the Fund and which is managed wholly by their own in-house team, generates additional value through the reconfiguration and refurbishment of existing core assets and the development of new sites.
Source: Lothbury
