One of New York’s most powerful private developers is set to make his UK debut as winner of the race to buy Shell-Mex House on the Strand in London.
Steven Witkoff has won the bidding for the 51,000 sq m (549,000 sq ft) Thames-side landmark property with an offer of at least £180m.
He brings with him one of the world’s largest advertising agencies, Omnicom, as a prelet.
The developer is backed by CS First Boston and Lehman Brothers.
Witkoff, 42, beat a host of major players like Mountcity/Delta, Tishman Speyer, Howard Ronson and Blackstone with Development Securities and CGI. One New York investment broker described Shell-Mex as the biggest investment and development opportunity in the UK. Another source said the main cluster of bids for Shell-Mex were around £150m-160m.
The new owner of Shell-Mex is a former lawyer who took the New York real estate market by storm in the early 1990s. With his partner Larry Gluck, Witkoff bought a number of high profile developments for bargain prices.
After Gluck and Witkoff split in 1996, Witkoff bought one of New York’s most famous buildings, the 60-storey Woolworth building at 233 Broadway, for US$137.5m.
Omnicom wants to take up to 27,870 sq m (300,000 sq ft) at Shell-Mex. The requirement, handled by Cluttons Daniel Smith, has been live in the West End for some time.
Richard Ellis St Quintin acted for Royal Dutch Shell, owner of Shell-Mex House, which decided to quit the building as part of a Europe-wide cost-cutting exercise.
EGi News 06/08/99
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