Viridis Real Estate, on behalf of a member of the Jameel family, has won the race to buy the former Guardian HQ on Farringdon Road, EC1.
The Saudi investor is paying around £29m for the City fringe development opportunity, which was put up for sale by its Irish owner Ronan O’Caoimh’s Farringdon Sarl for £25m – a 3.5% yield in March.
The 78,000 sq ft office block had consent for conversion to 118 flats and 20,000 sq ft of commercial space, which has now lapsed.
However, talks are understood to be under way with Islington council over an extension to the permission.
The building is presently multilet to tenants including Datamonitor and Alexander McQueen and generates an annual rent of £820,000. Vacant possession becomes achievable by March 2014.
Viridis Real Estate fought off 24 other bidders, mainly from the hotel and residential sectors for the property. Developer bidders included Allied London, Quadrant, Mount Anvil, Frogmore, Delancey and British Land.
All parties declined to comment.
DTZ advised on the sale.
