Quintain JV sells offices at Pier Walk
REAL estate investor Quintain has sold its Pier Walk development near Canary Wharf to DekaBank, Germany’s largest open-ended fund manager, for £97.1m.
Quintain, which owned the seven-story building at Greenwich Peninsula in a joint venture with Bovis Lend Lease, said the sale represents a six per cent uplift on the property’s valuation in March and an investment yield of 5.9 per cent.
Transport for London remains the sole office occupant of the 198,000 square foot building, after taking out a 20-year lease in August 2009, while the retail units will be leased back to the joint venture at no cost for 125 years.
As part of the deal, Quintain and Bovis keep control of the seven retail units on the ground floor, five of which are shortly due to be let.
The sale is a boost for Quintain, which posted a 1.5 per cent drop in net asset value in June.
Quintain’s deputy chief executive Nick Shattock said: “Following the successful sale of The O2 last year, this disposal at a price above valuation… is another resounding endorsement of the value to be realised at Greenwich Peninsula, even in the early stages of this transformational regeneration scheme.”
The joint venture is one of three businesses currently working to build 10,000 new homes and create 24,000 jobs in the Peninsula area.
JOHN RIGG
SAVILLS
PROPERTY agent Savills acted for Quintain and Lend Lease on the sale of Pier Walk, the latest in a long line of high profile deals for the firm. The £160m sale of 10 Gresham Street to Hammerson is one recent success, and the team are currently busy marketing JP Morgan’s headquarters on Gresham Street, which has a £260m price tag.
John Rigg heads up the agent’s international investment team, and has been at Savills since 2001. He has previously worked for the Middle East branch of DTZ.
He worked with Jon Crossfield on the Pier Walk sale – Savills’ expert in German open-ended funds. Crossfield worked for DTZ and Jones Lang LaSalle before joining in 2002. He has a Cambridge degree in land economy.
Simon Barrowcliff headed the CBRE team acting as agents for purchaser DekaBank. He joined the firm in 1984 and has a focus on the West End market. He is a keen mountaineer and regularly visits the Alps.
Clifford Chance advised the vendors on legal matters, while Simmons & Simmons advised Deka.