Singapore investor buys London office for £129m

Green Property Holdings has sold 67 Lombard St., an eight-story office property in the City of London, to Stream Field Investments, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Ho Bee Land, for £129.3 million ($163.8 million).

The 1 million-square-foot brick office underwent a redevelopment project in 2014 by Green Property Holdings.

CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield advised Green Property Holdings on the sale.

During the first quarter 2017 the investment turnover in the London office sector totaled £4.2 billion, the highest first quarter total on record, according to JLL. The market was boosted by a number of large transactions, with 11 transactions of more than £100 million ($126.65 million).

The overseas share of activity jumped to a record 90 percent of the total, due to transactions made by Hong Kong–based private investors. This included The Leadenhall Building, which sold for £1.15 billion ($1.46 billion). Also, German investors acquired a number of large lot sizes in the City and West End. German fund manager Deka Immobilien purchased Cannon Place.

Global appetite for Central London office property has not diminished. In first half of 2016 pre-referendum, demand for Central London office property stood at £33 billion ($42 billion), according to CBRE in The Edge Property Singapore article. Today, the demand has increased to £38.5 billion, ($48.8 billion).

High-priced properties currently on the market include a 50 percent stake in the Walkie-Talkie building at 20 Frenchurch Street, in the City of London, with an estimated sales price of £600 million ($760 million). The seller is Canary Wharf Group. And Blackstone has plans to sell St. Katharine’s Dock, a part-office, part-marina complex near London’s Tower Bridge.