The new headquarters of The Daily Telegraph has been put up for sale, 16 months after the Barclay brothers bought the building in Victoria.
The billionaire brothers are seeking £220m for the long leasehold of the 232,000 sq ft Victoria Plaza, SW1, a yield of around 5%.
They paid German open-ended fund CGI £125m for the building in December 2005, when it had been empty for two years since the completion of a redevelopment.
The loss-making Telegraph Media Group now occupies 130,000 sq ft of the building after vacating its Canary Wharf offices at 1 Canada Square, E14.
A sale of Victoria Plaza had been widely expected once the remaining space had been filled. There is now just 33,000 sq ft available.
This year, financial services group Advent took 20,000 sq ft and US specialist group U-Switch 31,500, both at around £55 per sq ft.
Last year, the Metropolitan Police Authority took 17,000 sq ft at £45 per sq ft on a two-year flexible lease, expiring in September 2008, as part of the government’s cost-cutting drive.
The Barclay brothers are believed to have started sounding out buyers following several unsolicited approaches at the end of last year.
A source said: “It is a sensible move by the Telegraph because at this stage of the market, with keen yields, they can capitalise on ownership by achieving a good price while keeping future occupational costs low.”
Another added that the building would attract bids from overseas investors who had been unable to buy prime low-yielding stock in central London.
Atisreal and Jones Lang LaSalle are handling the sale.
