Helical offloads TikTok block
Helical has sold the owning company of its 88,580 sq ft Kaleidoscope office development in Farringdon for £158.5m.
Farringdon East (Jersey), which owns the long leasehold interest in the Lindsey Street, EC1, asset has been bought by Chinachem Group, a Hong Kong investor making its debut in the UK.
The sale price reflects a capital value of £1,789 per sq ft and is a marginal premium to book value. The 150-year lease from Transport for London was granted in 2018 and has a head rent geared to 10% of contracted rents.
Helical has sold the owning company of its 88,580 sq ft Kaleidoscope office development in Farringdon for £158.5m.
Farringdon East (Jersey), which owns the long leasehold interest in the Lindsey Street, EC1, asset has been bought by Chinachem Group, a Hong Kong investor making its debut in the UK.
The sale price reflects a capital value of £1,789 per sq ft and is a marginal premium to book value. The 150-year lease from Transport for London was granted in 2018 and has a head rent geared to 10% of contracted rents.
The six-storey 88,580 sq ft office building sits above the Farringdon East Crossrail Station and is occupied in its entirety by TikTok, which took a 15-year lease in March 2021 at £7.6m (an average rent in excess of £86 per sq ft).
The PLP-designed scheme is accredited BREEAM Excellent, WiredScore Platinum and provides a 5,000 sq ft roof terrace together with high-quality end-of-journey facilities and features integrated artwork by Dutch artists De Makers Van.
Helical property director Matthew Bonning-Snook, said: “Kaleidoscope was the first over-station development to complete on the Elizabeth Line and we were able to attract one of the world’s fastest-growing tech businesses due to its striking design, highly accessible location, excellent amenities and strong environmental credentials.
“We will now seek to recycle the proceeds from the sale into delivering new highly sustainable best-in-class central London office schemes, where occupier demand remains strong.”
Donald Choi, executive director and chief executive of Chinachem Group, said the firm had bought the block as it s “located in one of London’s best-performing submarkets with impressive rental growth”.
He added: “We intend to hold this property for long-term investment. Having now made our London entrance, we will incrementally increase our exposure in gateway cities of other major developed markets in order to move further forward our diversification objectives and build a long-term resilient income stream. However, Hong Kong still remains our home and the core market of our business operations.”
Helical was advised by JLL; Chinachem was advised by Deloitte and Ingleby Trice.
Completion is due to take place in 10 days.
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Image courtesy FTI Consulting
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