Landsec is understood to have exchanged contracts with Gaterule to acquire 25 Lavington Street, SE1, for between £85-90m.
Landsec saw off competition from the likes of Delancey, Derwent and Brookfield to advance the deal.
Gaterule, the property investment business run by the Oestricher family, instructed CBRE at the beginning of October to look for circa £80m for the 1.6 acre freehold South Bank site near Blackfriars Bridge and the Tate Modern.
Consisting of two office buildings, one a former printworks, 25 Lavington Street provides 132,804 sq ft of office space.
The smaller of the two buildings is occupied by serviced office provider One Avenue Group on a rent of £550,000 per year. A landlord’s break notice has been served on the tenant and vacant possession of the entire site is achievable from 27 March 2019.
It also comes with planning approval for an Allies & Morrison-designed scheme (pictured) that has a gross development value of £340m and comprises 173 apartments spread across two buildings of 13 and 21 storeys, as well as a 10-storey office building to provide 122,205 sq ft of space, plus ancillary retail.
In November, Landsec said in its half-year results for the 2018/19 financial year that it planned to expand its 2m sq ft development pipeline and take advantage of any weakness in the market due to Brexit.
The company, led by Rob Noel, had previously a conservative view of the development market for the past couple of years. Noel had previously said that Landsec would not start any new developments before the UK exits the EU.
Landsec’s development pipeline also includes Deutsche Bank’s new headquarters at 21 Moorfields, EC2, which is under construction, Nova East and Portland House in Victoria and 1 Sherwood Street, W1.
Landsec has been contacted for comment. CBRE declined to comment.
