Former tea merchant’s City estate brought to market
A four-building estate in the City’s insurance district has been put up for sale for £28m – a 6.1% yield.
The Peek House Estate, EC3, extends to almost 58,000 sq ft across the four buildings: the five-storey 35,000 sq ft Peek House at 20 Eastcheap and its 3,000 sq ft annex; the six-storey, 8,000 sq ft 22-28 Eastcheap; the six-storey, 8,300 sq ft 31 Lovat Lane; and the five-storey, 6,300 sq ft 6-7 St Mary at Hill.
While 6-7 St Mary at Hill and the annex are solely office spaces, Peek House, 22-28 Eastcheap and 31 Lovat Lane are all mixed-use assets, comprising office, retail and hospitality space, including bar and restaurant Eastcheap Records.
A four-building estate in the City’s insurance district has been put up for sale for £28m – a 6.1% yield.
The Peek House Estate, EC3, extends to almost 58,000 sq ft across the four buildings: the five-storey 35,000 sq ft Peek House at 20 Eastcheap and its 3,000 sq ft annex; the six-storey, 8,000 sq ft 22-28 Eastcheap; the six-storey, 8,300 sq ft 31 Lovat Lane; and the five-storey, 6,300 sq ft 6-7 St Mary at Hill.
While 6-7 St Mary at Hill and the annex are solely office spaces, Peek House, 22-28 Eastcheap and 31 Lovat Lane are all mixed-use assets, comprising office, retail and hospitality space, including bar and restaurant Eastcheap Records.
The estate currently houses 34 tenants and provides an annual rent of £1.8m a year at an average overall rent of £31.60 per sq ft.
Some 11,000 sq ft of the estate – in 6-7 St Mary at Hill – is vacant.
Peek House Estate is being marketed as a potential repositioning opportunity to create either 71,500 sq ft of refurbished offices with additional terraces or an 80,000 sq ft aparthotel with 105 bedrooms. The plans have been worked up by architect GPAD.
The latter has become an increasingly popular option, as hotel investment in London shot past its 2023 total by the end of Q3 this year.
Peek House, the largest of the buildings on the estate, became home to tea merchant Peek Brothers in the 19th century and still bears the company’s trademark trio of camels on its frontage. Under its various guises the company continued to sell tea, as well as other luxuries such as coffee, spices and chocolate, until its dissolution in 2004.
It is outlived by the creation of its descendant company Peek Freans, which pioneered popular biscuits such as the Garibaldi and Bourbon.
Allsop has been appointed to market the property on behalf of its private owner.
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