Sterling Property Ventures has teamed up with Legal & General Property to buy the iconic former NatWest Tower in Birmingham from British Land.
The duo has fought off rival bidders including Bruntwood and JP Morgan and are under offer at around £15m for the building at 103 Colmore Row.
The scheme is one of the largest development opportunities in Birmingham’s business district.
BL has consent to demolish the 78,000 sq ft vacant 1960s-built tower and build a new 35-storey, 284,000 sq ft tower on the site. The consent expires in June 2015.
A source said: “This is the best development site in Birmingham and to have an empty building sitting there so long is criminal.
“L&G has an appetite to speculatively build in the city, so this was a logical next step.”
Estates Gazette revealed in the spring that British Land was preparing to sell the office block (17 May, p35).
The deal is expected to be completed over the summer.
L&G and Sterling attempted to buy Kames Capital’s 55 Colmore Row scheme but were pipped by IM Properties, which completed a £33.5m purchase last month.
Knight Frank advised L&G and Sterling.
lisa.pilkington@estatesgazette.com
