Investor and gold trader Roy Sebag is understood to have seen off competition from the Crown Estate to buy the 226,547 sq ft Clarendon Centre in Oxford.
The shopping centre was put up for sale through CBRE in September this year for around £30m as part of the liquidation of open-ended property fund Lothbury Property Trust.
Sebag is looking to capitalise on what he describes as a “cheap time in the cycle” and is understood to have outbid a joint venture between the Crown Estate, Pioneer Group and Oxford Science Enterprises, which had been widely tipped as favourite to buy the mall.
Plans are in place to transform the 1980s-built Clarendon Centre into a major mixed-use scheme comprising shops, offices, student accommodation and laboratories. Market sources said it was unclear whether Sebag would progress the life sciences-focused plans.
In 2022, Oxford Science Enterprises committed to set up 30,000 sq ft of incubator space at the Clarendon Centre following the revamp to accommodate start-ups coming out of the University of Oxford.
Lothbury has already sold North Bailey House, a separate office scheme with ground-floor shops and restaurants to the rear of the Clarendon Centre. The 28,563 sq ft building was sold to Brydell Partners for £21.3m in July this year.
All parties declined to comment.
Image © Farrer Huxley
Send feedback to Evelina Grecenko
Follow Estates Gazette
