UK real estate investor Castleforge Partners is close to sealing a deal for Winchester House, EC2, aiming to chip at least a further £20m off the price.
The 317,000 sq ft building, home to Deutsche Bank, was initially marketed by China Investment Corporation and Invesco Real Estate for £275m and went under offer to Castleforge at a price of between £260m and £265m in August. Castleforge is now understood to be under offer at a revised £240m, with the deal expected to complete before the end of the year.
If the deal closes, Castleforge and its international institutional funder are understood to be planning a refurbishment strategy echoing Castleforge’s 1 Golden Lane project, EC1. Plans for the Grade II listed building, which was granted planning approval by the City of London Corporation earlier this month, include raising the building height and extending it from 107,000 sq ft to 167,000 sq ft, including new community space and roof terraces.
JLL and Eastdil are advising CIC; Castleforge has been advised by Savills.
Deal advisers are already witnessing buyers lowering prices for transactions as the economic downturn hits. Earlier this month, Bayes Business School’s Nicole Lux told EG prices on deals were being cut by as much as 40%.
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