The Capital Building, one of Liverpool’s largest and most recognisable office assets at 410,000 square feet, achieved a successful sale for an estimated £56 million in May.
Oval Real Estate buying the building from Starwood Capital cemented the asset’s position as a high‑value, core investment in the Liverpool market and won the deal Sale of the Year in the North West in CoStar's Impact Awards, chosen by an independent panel of judges.
Oval Real Estate’s entry represents diversification in Liverpool’s landlord base, adding a highly active value‑add investor with a strong national track record. The building was then sold on to Legal & General in a significant expansion of institutional capital in Liverpool offices, it is understood.
With more than half of the building lease restructured with UK Visas and Immigration, part of the Home Office, the transaction strengthened confidence in long‑income, government‑occupied assets in regional cities.
About the project: A multi‑stage strategy, in which Oval Real Estate acquired the building, enhanced value via lease restructuring and advanced negotiations with an institutional buyer, an approach rarely executed at this scale in Liverpool.
Extensive prior capital investment, including a £26.2 million refurbishment in 2021, supported enhanced due diligence, inspections and building performance assessment for buyers.
This combination of asset repositioning, lease engineering and transaction structuring represents one of the most sophisticated office investment processes in the Liverpool market in recent years.
The judges said: Alex Russell, chief executive, Property Alliance Group, said: "Not many transactions in the last few years and securing the strong tenant mix allowed the purchase and onward sale providing a confidence boost for the sector and Liverpool."
Meanwhile, Geoff Willis, head of regeneration, Liverpool City Council, said: "Liverpool is a really exciting office market and there is opportunity within it to create value, employment and yield compression – this transaction certainly shows that this can be done. Through creative asset management the significant underlying value in the building was unlocked. From a practical perspective, the building now presents as a public sector-focused hub that will be drive employment in the City Region."
Professor Anupam Nanda, professor of urban economics and real estate, University of Manchester added: "I liked the multi-stage strategy, which enhanced value via lease restructuring, and advanced negotiations with an institutional buyer."
They made it happen: Colin Thomasson, head of investment properties, Michael Pochin, director – investment agency, and Jonathon Ashall, associate director, CBRE, represented the seller.