Barings buys £70m City office for value-add fund
Barings has bought 25 Moorgate, an 83,000 sq ft office in the City of London, for £70.7m, and plans to carry out significant refurbishments on the site.
The investment manager has bought the office from DWS, in a deal reflecting an initial yield of 4.8% and a capital value of £857 per sq ft. DWS bought the office in 2009 from Grosvenor.
25 Moorgate comprises around 75,000 sq ft of office space and 7,800 sq ft of retail and F&B space across the ground floor and basement. It is fully let to two tenants, including accountant Smith & Williamson.
Barings has bought 25 Moorgate, an 83,000 sq ft office in the City of London, for £70.7m, and plans to carry out significant refurbishments on the site.
The investment manager has bought the office from DWS, in a deal reflecting an initial yield of 4.8% and a capital value of £857 per sq ft. DWS bought the office in 2009 from Grosvenor.
25 Moorgate comprises around 75,000 sq ft of office space and 7,800 sq ft of retail and F&B space across the ground floor and basement. It is fully let to two tenants, including accountant Smith & Williamson.
Barings has bought the site as part of a broader value-add strategy, and will revamp the building to improve its ESG credentials and wellbeing amenities. This will include adding a rooftop garden and boosting the energy efficiency of the site.
The investor bought it via BREEVA II, Barings’ second pan-European value-add real estate fund. It recently reached its final close having reached its hard cap of €850m after receiving €1bn of client demand, surpassing an initial target of €750m.
Darren Hutchinson, head of UK real estate transactions at Barings, said: “This was an attractive opportunity to acquire a well-located office asset that offers both income in the short term alongside significant reversionary potential following a comprehensive refurbishment programme.
“Offices in central London still have immense appeal to occupiers that are keen to attract and retain talent by providing best-in-class space that can facilitate hybrid working not just through the quality of its facilities, but also its proximity to both transport connections and a range of local amenities that will encourage staff to return to the office.
“Following its refurbishment, 25 Moorgate will be well-positioned to take advantage of the structural trends underpinning office take up and will deliver significantly more value for our initial investment.”
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Image from Barings
