Developer Hub and impact investor Bridges Fund Management have acquired 150 Minories in Aldgate, EC3, for £39m, in the partnership’s largest acquisition to date.
The existing commercial premises, operated by serviced offices provider BE Offices, will be repurposed into a residential scheme.
The deal is the twelfth for the pair and is the latest project as part of an “office to residential” repurposing strategy developed by HubCap, owned by HUB, alongside Bridges’s property funds platform.
It follows on from the partnership’s recent deal to buy 45 Beech Street, EC2, for £30m, next to the Barbican estate, which is another workplace conversion project.
HubCap has five projects under development between London and Edinburgh with a combined GDV of £330m. Bridges and Hub have worked on numerous living sector deals together over the past decade with a combined development value of over £1bn.
The Aldgate conversion will involve retaining the frame of the building and reinforcing its foundations, which is expected to save 30% embodied carbon compared to an equivalent new-build.
Miles Keeley, principal at HubCap, said: “There is a chronic need for more good quality, sustainable housing in the City of London so that people can continue living and working there. 150 Minories will deliver up to 300 new homes to help meet this need.
“This part of Aldgate is poised for major revitalisation and we look forward to playing our part through this transformative development. The back-to-back acquisitions of Minories and Beech Street highlight the scale of our ambitions to be a market leader in the re-purposing space. It is an area of the market that desperately needs to mature due to changes in the way occupiers use buildings, as well as the pressing need to save embodied carbon.
“HubCap’s strategy is to identify sites suitable for conversion that will help to reanimate pockets of cities in need of an injection of life. Introducing a better mix of uses in city centres, especially more housing, is crucial for resurrecting local economies.”
Simon Ringer, head of property funds at Bridges Fund Management, said: “Over the last decade, we’ve developed thousands of highly sustainable lower-cost homes in areas where there is a clear shortage of quality housing. But as we think about the transition to net zero, it’s also important we think about how we can reduce the embodied carbon involved in housebuilding.
“Clearly over the last few years there have been significant changes in the way we live and work, which has left a number of buildings in fantastic locations that are ripe for repurposing and refurbishment.”
JLL advised HubCap on the acquisition, with Addleshaw Goddard acting on the legals. DP9 acted as planning consultants and Morris+Company as architect. HK London and Michael Elliot advised the seller.
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