Addington, the property investor and asset manager, together with a US investor joint venture partner has acquired Senator House, 85, Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London, EC4 for around £63 million, The vendor was a joint venture between Legal & General and Dutch pension fund PGGM.
Senator House comprises 150,802 sq.ft. of Grade A office and ancillary accommodation arranged over the atrium level, ground and seven upper floors arranged around a full height central atrium.
Floors 3 to 6 which offer broadly rectangular floorplates of around 20,000 sq.ft. are let to wealth manager, Quilter, which leases 84,000 sq.ft. of space, as well as a private terrace of 1,615 sq. ft. of the sixth floor. The 7th level of the building has a communal landscaped rooftop terrace of around 5,700 sq.ft.
The atrium level, ground and levels 1 & 2 of the building comprising 66,000 sq ft, are currently vacant awaiting refurbishment to bring them up to top standard, providing good asset management opportunities for Addington.
The building is on a prominent 0.72-acre island site, with a landscaped frontage of over 50 metres onto Queen Victoria Street with Cleary Gardens directly adjacent to the east. It is centrally located in the city within a 5-minute walk of 4 key transport nodes: Mansion House, Cannon Street, Bank and Blackfriars.
Addington believes the purchase of Senator provides an outstanding opportunity to complete the refurbishment of the building to create “best in class” Cat A specified offices, with enhanced ESG credentials. The refurbishment is well timed to take advantage of a shortage in top quality offices in the City market, which the buyers believe will provide the potential for higher rental levels being achieved across the whole building.
Martin Roberts, Principal at Addington said, “The opportunity to undertake a refurbishment programme of an income producing asset like Senator House offers attractive risk adjusted returns. We have been actively pursuing similar “brown to green” projects across Central London, allowing us to upgrade buildings with strong fundamentals to create the high quality, ESG-compliant space, sought after by today’s occupiers.
Sentiment towards London offices is improving and we are actively seeking similar opportunities.”
RX advised the owners on the sale, whilst BNP Paribas and Ingleby Trice advised the purchaser.
