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ADDRESS 36 Queen Street, London EC4

Location City of London EC4 Investment Date April 2011
Transaction Type Major office refurbishment upon vacant possession Purchase Price £16.8m

Transaction Summary / Opportunity

L&O acted on behalf of a Hong Kong Public Company in the acquisition of this multi-let office building and will provide asset management and development management services.

Description: A Freehold building, providing approximately 49,000 square feet of office accommodation on basement, ground and six upper floors. 100% of the income is secured from the Bank Of Ireland until December 2011 at a rent of £1.875m per annum (£44 per square foot). The current yield is 10.55% and the Capital Value per square foot is £342. The building is located in a core City of London location popular with professional and financial end users.

Opportunity: The building has not been improved by the previous owner and represents an opportunity to significantly reposition the building through a comprehensive refurbishment of the common areas and the office floors as and when vacant possession is obtained. This would involve the complete re-orientation of the entrance reception and possibly the introduction of retail to the ground floor and basement. We also believe that there are in-fill gains to be made which will increase the net lettable floor areas. On completion of the refurbishment the building will be leased to produce income for long term investment.

Acquisition Method: Private Treaty

Value Added

  • A team of consultants were appointed to ensure a speedy exchange of contracts and necessary due diligence on the property
  • Assistance was given to an overseas purchaser in a market where purchasing competition was strong
  • Various strategies for ongoing management and improvement of the building were analysed and evaluated
  • A project team will be appointed and supervised by L&O to undertake the comprehensive refurbishment of the property including project manager, architect and M&E Consultants