CLS tries again with £40m Westminster Tower sale
CLS Holdings has secured a sale of its Westminster Tower at 3 Albert Embankment, SE1, to London Square for £40.8m.
The sale is the second attempt to offload the office building by CLS, which was forced to abort a disposal to Australian investor Third.i earlier this year.
Third.i had agreed to buy the tower for around £40m in June 2023 , but was unable to complete so lost its deposit on the property. In March, Third.i co-founder Gareth Hardy said that the group had found a new investor and was aiming to complete the acquisition within four weeks.
CLS Holdings has secured a sale of its Westminster Tower at 3 Albert Embankment, SE1, to London Square for £40.8m.
The sale is the second attempt to offload the office building by CLS, which was forced to abort a disposal to Australian investor Third.i earlier this year.
Third.i had agreed to buy the tower for around £40m in June 2023 , but was unable to complete so lost its deposit on the property. In March, Third.i co-founder Gareth Hardy said that the group had found a new investor and was aiming to complete the acquisition within four weeks.
However, London Square has now swooped in and plans to convert the tower into a residential scheme. Planning consent is already in place.
CLS chief executive Fredrik Widlund said: “We remain focused on having the highest quality, sustainable, modern offices in our locations. Westminster Tower was no longer suitable for the modern office tenants we look to service, but is a prime opportunity for residential conversion, and I wish London Square all the success with the conversion.
“The disposal is in line with our strategy to reduce leverage and we will continue to pursue potential disposals in the months ahead.”
A spokesperson for London Square said: “The acquisition of Westminster Tower is an outstanding addition to our growing portfolio of sites, reflecting our ambition to extend the presence of London Square in prime central London. It stands next to the Thames, with views right across to the Palace of Westminster, Big Ben and other historic landmarks and will offer a collection of unrivalled residences in the heart of the capital.”
Third.i’s Hardy said despite the loss of the deal, the firm remained committed to the UK.
“When we started on our UK journey, we were prepared to meet challenges along the way – as there always are with property development,” he said. “We have a long-term plan and we have achieved the first steps of many to expand beyond Australia with Third.i, already delivering 250 units in the London market. We remain steadfast in our mission to deliver exceptional developments that contribute positively to the UK property landscape.
“While we and our funding partner are disappointed that our purchase of Westminster Tower is no longer going ahead, we are excited to move forward together with a number of other projects in the pipeline, which we hope to announce in due course. Third.i extend our best wishes to the new purchaser of Westminster Tower and we are confident in the project’s future success.”
Completion of the sale to London Square is scheduled for Q2 2024.
JLL advised CLS on the disposal.
