Blackfriars Crown Court sold to Fabrix Capital
Property investment manager Fabrix Capital has beaten off stiff competition to acquire Blackfriars Crown Court, SE1.
The 1.4-acre freehold site on Pocock Street, Southwark, was put up for sale in March by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for in excess of £45m.
It is understood Fabrix has paid around £65m for the court, which is due to close by 2020.
Property investment manager Fabrix Capital has beaten off stiff competition to acquire Blackfriars Crown Court, SE1.
The 1.4-acre freehold site on Pocock Street, Southwark, was put up for sale in March by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for in excess of £45m.
It is understood Fabrix has paid around £65m for the court, which is due to close by 2020.
The firm is expected to convert the existing building into a commercial-led scheme containing offices and some retail.
Fabrix is already an investor in Southwark, having last year purchased the former police building at Olwen House, now known as The Binary, at 27 Copperfield Street, which it refurbished to provide office space.
It was acquired through Fabrix’s i2 fund, which is targeting value-added opportunities across London’s fringes.
The court will be the fourth property purchased by the closed-ended fund, which has more than £150m of co-investment capital to deploy, targeting 12% IRR over five years.
Fabrix also has £250m of capital to deploy in value-add strategies outside of the fund.
The sale of Blackfriars Crown Court is part of a £350m disposal programme by HMCTS. It was the “crown jewel” in the second phase of disposals, according to Laura Birnbaum, deputy director at the property directorate at HMCTS.
The disposal programme, which is part of a £1.2bn reform package to modernise and drive efficiency within the UK’s justice system, has been under way for two years. In that time, 106 freehold sites have been sold for a total of around £120m.
HMCTS plan to bring in more than £100m from asset sales in the current financial year.
A HMCTS spokesperson said: “The decision to close any court is carefully considered and where a service is moved outside the local area this will only happen following a full public consultation.
“HMCTS has exchanged contracts on the sale of Blackfriars Crown Court and completion will take place in due course. All money raised from the sale of closed courts will be reinvested into the justice system.”
Agents Avison Young and JLL have been advising HMCTS, as well as law firms Michelmores and Womble Bond Dickinson, while Savills advised Fabrix on the deal.
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