Landsec has completed the sale of 140 Aldersgate, an 123,000-square-foot office between Farringdon and Barbican in London, to institutional investors advised by JPMorgan Asset Management for around £50 million, CoStar News can reveal.
Landsec bought the multilet office in 2005 for £40 million. The nine-storey office includes Landsec's Created office space product, where it provides Blank Canvas spaces and advised on created fully-furnished offices that are managed and ready to occupy.
The asset is one of a number of major office investments Landsec has brought to market as part of a strategic change of direction. In full-year results published in May, the real estate investment trust updated on the plans, announced during the Mipim conference in Cannes, saying it was accelerating its shift away from offices towards retail and residential, pledging to recycle £2 billion of capital in the former over the next two to five years into the latter.
Landsec said it would increase investment in major retail by another £1 billion and establish a £2 billion-plus residential platform by 2030, to be funded by rotating £3 billion of capital out of offices, non-core investments and low or non-yielding pre-development assets. The group will not start any more speculative office development until its two major under-construction projects in London at Thirty High and Timber Square are substantially leased.
Newmark advised Landsec on the 140 Aldersgate deal. JLL advised JPMorgan.
JPMorgan said the acquisition was part of its "ongoing commitment to investing in high-quality, well-located offices across central London".
Elliot Prosser, its head of UK transactions, said: “We are delighted to add this asset to our European portfolio. The central London office market presents an exceptional investment opportunity given low levels of availability for Grade A office buildings.”
Last month, CoStar News revealed that Landsec was eyeing a sale of 55 Old Broad Street, a £600 million development site in the City of London, as part of its plan to dispose of £2 billion-worth of offices and pivot into retail and housing.
Market sources said Newmark and Knight Frank had been appointed to handle the sale, with Landsec understood to be looking to bring in a 50:50 investment partner.
Earlier in July it emerged that Landsec had instructed Colliers to sell 123 Victoria Street in London for around £265 million. The headquarters building is occupied by fashion brand Jimmy Choo and British International Investment.
Landsec is also in talks to sell Red Lion Court, a £335 million London office development in Southwark, to alternative asset manager Cheyne Capital Management and seasoned London developer Stanhope, according to Bloomberg. The sale values the land at around £45 million. Landsec gained consent in 2023 to redevelop Red Lion Court into a 230,000-square-foot office with retail and open areas with a gross development value of £335 million.
In March, CoStar News revealed that Landsec, advised by Newmark and Knight Frank, was reviewing whether it would bring in an investment partner for an £800 million office tower development on the site of the nine-storey Hill House building off Shoe Lane in the City of London, as part of its pivot towards building its residential platform. The real estate investment trust gained consent in April last year for the 20-storey mixed-use office building. It has now formally begun the sales process.
(Updated on 5 August to add institutional investors and comment from JPMorgan).