Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance has placed 110,000 sq ft under offer at Blackstone’s 20 Old Bailey, EC4, for its Barings asset-management unit.
The unit, which has around $275bn (£217.9bn) of assets under management, was created in September following a four-way merger between Barings, Babson Capital, Cornerstone Real Estate and Wood Creek Capital.
The deal is understood to be the first letting at 20 Old Bailey, which is undergoing a comprehensive refurbishment. Barings will pay more than £65 per sq ft for the offices.
Blackstone bought the block from Mitsui Fudusan for £95m in 2013. Designed by Buckley Gray Yeoman, the refurbished scheme will provide 240,000 sq ft of offices directly opposite the Old Bailey, England’s Central Criminal Court. The refurbishment is due to complete in May 2017.
The move will see the companies vacate three existing offices. Barings occupies 78,383 at 155 Bishopsgate, EC2, on a lease expiring in 2019. Babson Capital occupies 7,640 sq ft at 61 Aldwych, WC2, with a lease break in 2018. Morgan Creek Capital occupies 1,160 sq ft at 11-12 Pall Mall, SW1, on a lease expiring in 2019.
GM Real Estate is advising MassMutual; CBRE and BNP Paribas are joint leasing agents on 20 Old Bailey.
All parties declined to comment.
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