Slough Estates International announced today that it has agreed more than 758,000 sq ft of pre-lets across its European portfolio.
The group said the flurry of activity underlined its position as a leading provider of flexible business space on the Continent.
Ian Coull, chief executive, said: “We are ending 2006 in the same way we started it, delivering a series of transactions which demonstrate how we actively manage our assets.”
The group has secured lettings across four countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, and the UK. It has also increased its development pipeline in Poland.
In Belgium Slough has signed Ernst & Young for a 182,988 sq ft pre-let on a bespoke office building at its Pegasus Park office scheme located in Diegem near Brussels airport.
The accounting giant has signed a 15-year lease at an annual rent of €2.3m (£1.54m).
Slough has signed its first pre-let in the Czech Republic.
Global logistics company Kuehne & Nagel is taking 516,672 sq ft at Slough’s speculative warehousing scheme at Tulipán Park in Prague.
Kuehne & Nagel has signed a 52-month lease, at a rent of approximately €269,000 (£180,632).
Slough has also secured a 516,672 sq ft (5,500 sq m) office and light industrial pre-let from a French distribution company at its Carré des Aviateurs business park in Paris.
The letting is for a term of nine years at a rent of €460,000 (£308,888).
In addition, Slough has acquired a 12.4ha (30.6-acre) plot in Komorniki, increasing its Polish development pipeline to 75ha (185.3 acres) plus a further 12ha (29.65 acres) under option in Silesia.
Back in the UK, HelioSlough, the venture between Helios Properties and Slough Estates International, has secured a forward funding deal of approximately £100m with CBRE Investors for six speculative distribution properties across the UK totalling 1.57m sq ft (146,000 sq m).
Work has already commenced on the units, which will be completed in 2007.
The deal includes the 50-acre Sheffield International Railfreight Terminal (SIRFT), where HelioSlough will start immediately on two sheds totalling 622,000 sq ft.
Slough has acquired a development site in Newbury for £10.1m from Highcross.
The purchase also includes an existing 107,000 sq ft let at a passing rent of £500,000 pa and an 8,500 sq ft building let at £36,000 pa.
References: EGi News 21/12/06
