CIT has been expanding the ownership of its £130m South Quay Plaza estate in London’s Docklands.
The investment group is selling units in the 350,000 sq ft estate to a range of investors through DTZ.
The buildings are held in an offshore property unit trust, a vehicle used principally to avoid stamp duty.
A source said: “In central London, funds have been increasingly looking at using a JPUT in a similar way that they might use a real estate investment trust.
“A large lot size can easily be put into a JPUT and have units sold efficiently. Insight, Standard Life and Hermes have all started to do it with large central London offices.”
Tishman Speyer is also believed to want to exploit the opportunity offered by an offshore trust if it buys British Land’s CityPoint tower on Ropemaker Street, EC2.
Tishman is one of the leading bidders for the £500m scheme, which returned to the market this month, and could split the units in the building up into different funds.
The 210,000 sq ft Wyndham House and South Quay Plaza 2 on Marsh Wall, E14, were bought by CIT for £60m after both buildings were badly damaged by the IRA bombings in 1996.
Meanwhile, in the City, a private Spanish investor has beaten competition from a UK fund for Deka’s 146,500 sq ft 100 Wood Street, EC2.
Sources said Punta Gadea – the private company of Amancia Ortega, who founded fashion chain Zara – had offered £141m, a 5.1% yield.
CBRE and Savills put the building on the market for £125m, a 5.76% yield.
In August, Punta Gadea was touted as the buyer of Deka’s Abacus House, EC3,
for £49.5m.
References: EGi News 25/11/05
