Barings and LBS buy South Bank scheme

Barings and LBS have bought a 150,000 sq ft office development on London’s South Bank. The duo paid LaSalle Investment Management £43.3m for the Emerson building scheme, on Park Street, SE1. The scheme has planning for an 11-floor, Squire & Partners-designed office, with 14,000 sq ft of affordable workspace on the ground floor. London-based developer LBS Properties will demolish the existing building to create a net zero carbon building with a rooftop communal terrace overlooking the Thames and the City of London, as well as storage for 284 bicycles and 28 showers for sweaty cyclists. LaSalle will retain the freehold. Barings’ head of Europe transactions, Gunther Deutsch, said: “This transaction represented a rare opportunity to acquire a well-located development site in a historically undersupplied and attractive submarket of London. We have strong convictions in the London office market and believe that there will continue to be strong demand for well-located grade-A office space with strong occupier appeal.” Chris Lewis, a fund manager at LaSalle, said that the deal was “an excellent example of value-creation”. View more office deals on the South Bank >>  To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews Image by Squire & Partners courtesy of Barings