Union Investment has acquired Procession House, an office property located at 55 Ludgate Hill, London from Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and British developer Greycoat for the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Europa. The purchase price was not disclosed.
After Watermark Place and The Copyright Building, Procession House is the third investment in London for UniImmo: Europa, and the fourth investment in the UK.
The office accommodation covers 8,700 sq m of space from the ground floor up to the penthouse level on the 5th floor. There are also two terraces on the 4th and 5th floors with a combined area of 500 sq m. The remaining space is earmarked for retail, restaurants and storage.
Some 92 per cent of the space is already let, with the main tenants being alternative asset manager the Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) and accountancy firm Crowe UK. Both leases run for 15 years.
“The British office market has performed very robustly in recent years despite the economic uncertainty in the wake of the Brexit referendum and the coronavirus pandemic. London is set to remain one of the world’s leading business centres, with an attractive office market. Because of its strong position, the London office market will be among the first to see rent growth when the current crisis is over,” said Adam Irányi, Head of Investment Europe II at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH.
“We are proud to have partnered with Greycoat and to successfully conclude our investment in Procession House. Collectively, we executed on a value-add strategy to comprehensively redevelop the building to offer new Grade A office space which we have successfully pre-leased to two high quality tenants. Now that the asset has been stabilised we are delighted to be transacting with an investor of Union Investment’s calibre,” said Chris Semones, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Real Estate.
