A virtual island site in Aldgate with potential for high-rise development has been put up for sale by London Metropolitan University after it announced plans to consolidate into a single campus.
Central House, E1, is being marketed by Cushman & Wakefield. It is seeking unconditional bids of £37.5m.
The 100,000 sq ft block will be sold with an 18-month lease-back to allow the university time to consolidate its operations into its Holloway campus.
The university announced plans to invest £125m to create a single north London campus earlier this month. The move will bring together all faculties on one site for the first time in the university’s 170-year history.
Central House is expected to attract bids from office, hotel and residential developers keen to tap into the growth of the Aldgate area.
No planning consent has been secured for the site, but it is close to high-rise developments including the 17-storey Aldgate Tower, 25-storey Aldgate Place and the 27-storey Altitude residential development.
Confidence in the local office market has soared in recent months following a string of lettings at Aldgate Tower, where rents top £60 per sq ft (see below).
In July, Derwent London paid RBS £132m for the adjoining 255,000 sq ft Aldgate Union building – a capital value of £518 per sq ft – which it plans to refurbish.
The university will not consider subject-to-planning offers after the sale of one of its buildings on Commercial Road to a housebuilder collapsed following initial discussions with Tower Hamlets council. The building was subsequently sold for use as a free school.
Interested parties are therefore expected to underwrite bids on the basis of a defensive strategy involving a refurbishment of the existing building.
• Aecom is under offer to lease 100,000 sq ft at Aldgate Tower, E1. The deal – at around £55 per sq ft – would bring the 317,000 speculatively developed tower to fully let. It is already on the market for sale via Cushman & Wakefield, priced at £350m. CBRE is advising Aecom; BNP Paribas Real Estate and GM Real Estate are leasing agents.
