Forsters solicitors advised Benchmark on the £38m purchase today of the freehold of Buchanan House, 3 St James’s Square, London SW1, from Shell Pensions Trust Ltd.
The 10-storey, 4,830 sq m (52,000 sq ft) office building currently produces an income of £2.48m pa.
It is let on an overriding lease, with 14 years unexpired, to Winchester House Property Co Ltd. with a surety from United Distillers & Vintners (ER), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Diageo plc, which, in turn, has sublet the space. The rent review as at June 1999 is outstanding; further three-yearly upwards-only rent reviews are incorporated in the lease.
Nigel Kempner, chief executive of Benchmark, said: “This was an off-market purchase from Shell Pensions carried out in a short time-period. There is an excellent opportunity actively to seek to restructure leases within the building, while currently receiving a solid income from a wholly-owned subsidiary of Diageo plc.”
Kempner said that Buchanan House “now gives us prime office freehold buildings in three of the West End’s most sought after squares – Soho Square, Golden Square and St James’s Square.”
Field Fisher Waterhouse acted for the seller.
PLS News 8/9/99
