Mike Hussey’s Almacantar has exchanged contracts to buy CAA House, 1 Kemble Street, WC2.
Almacantar is believed to have agreed to pay almost £110m to Tishman Speyer for the two interconnected office blocks, reflecting a yield of 5.75%.
The 229,164 sq ft offices are leased to the Civil Aviation Authority until December 2019 at £6.2m a year, reflecting an average rent of £27.11 per sq ft.
The blocks – one of which was designed by Richard Seifert, who also designed Centrepoint which Almacantar acquired last year – were due to formally come to the market this week with Jones Lang LaSalle and Drivers Jonas Deloitte appointed as selling agents, but the deal was agreed off-market.
Hussey, chief executive of Almacantar, said: “The properties are a good fit for our portfolio, extending the timeline for our value-add activities to 2020. It is a location that we expect to perform strongly, given its proximity to Covent Garden and the restricted supply of office space in the West End.”
Julian Stocks, managing director, Tishman Speyer, added: “We are very pleased to have sold this asset to Almacantar. The funds released will be put to work on our exciting development projects that are underway in Paris and Frankfurt.”
As reported by Estates Gazette, US investor Tishman put the asset up for sale after failing to repay a £93m securitised loan before it matured.
Almacantar was not represented.
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
