Princeton acquires Croydon offices for £20m

Princeton Investments has stepped up its focus on Croydon by buying one of the town’s more prominent office blocks. Princeton – owned by Alan and Edward Lee, who, according to EG’s Rich List, share a £70m fortune – has bought the multilet Sunley House on Bedford Park in a joint venture with Bank of Scotland Corporate. The jv, Princeton Property Partners, has paid Topland £20.2m for the 110,000 sq ft office, which includes the Land Registry’s Croydon office as one of its tenants. The deal reflects a 5.7% yield. Topland was advised by Cushman & Wakefield; Stiles Harold Williams acted for Princeton. The acquisition comes as Princeton let another prominent Croydon office block. Along with jv partner Patron Capital, the company let 26,500 sq ft to Atkins at the refurbished No 1 Croydon – formerly the NLA Tower – at 12-16 Addiscombe Road. The engineering group has taken a 10-year lease at £18 per sq ft. Savills was letting agent; Lambert Smith Hampton advised Atkins.