Property Funds World Newsletter

Not displaying correctly? View this email in your browser

NEWSLETTER | 25 Jun 2020

The coronavirus crisis may have taken its toll on the UK commercial property market, but buyers looking for bargains as lockdown is lifted ‘are likely to be disappointed’.

That’s the view of Jason Winfield, Head of UK Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield who says that as in the aftermath of the UK’s vote to leave the EU, sellers seem prepared to play the waiting game to secure asking prices rather than offer discounts to prospective purchasers. “The few deals that have taken place are showing only marginal discounts, which some sellers already have factored into their sales plans," says Winfield.

One of those completed deals is UK Commercial Property REIT’s (UKCM) GBP40 million sale of Eldon House, its last remaining office property in the City of London. Acquired in 2015 for GBP27.8 million, UKCM exchanged contracts on the sale in early May. “Eldon House has been a highly successful investment,’ says Will Fulton, Lead Manager fo UKCM.

Staying with City deals, we also have news of a GBP56.25 million four-year loan secured by Swiss Life Asset Manager’s UK-based boutique Mayfair Capital on 15 Bonhill Street in Shorerditch. The 112,865 sq ft office building became Mayfair Capital’s largest ever acquisition on completion in 2019.

And on the London residential market, Qatari Diar and Canary Wharf have also made capital gains with the completion of their joint venture apartment tower 30 Casson Square at the Southbank Place development. Just eight of the 166 studio, one, two, and three-bedroom units are still available with prices from GBP2.2 million to GBP7.75million.

Property Funds World

UK commercial real estate buyers and sellers disconnected as pricing holds relatively firm during Covid-19 outbreak

Thu | 25 Jun 2020, 12:31

Cushman & Wakefield’s proprietary tracker of liquidity, pricing and turnover across UK commercial property reveals a gap between vendor and purchaser expectations on pricing emerging, resulting in a growing number of assets being withdrawn from sale either permanently or temporarily, in the hope that sale conditions will improve later in the year.

Thu | 25 Jun 2020, 12:31

UK Commercial Property REIT Limited (UKCM), which is managed and advised by Aberdeen Standard Investments and owns a diversified portfolio of high quality income-producing UK commercial property, has completed the sale of its only City of London office asset, Eldon House, for GBP40 million, following exchange of contracts in early May.

Thu | 25 Jun 2020, 12:31

DekaBank has acted as Sole Arranger and Underwriter on a loan for Swiss Life Asset Managers through the leading European real estate asset manager’s UK-based boutique, Mayfair Capital. DekaBank has provided a GBP56.25 million loan secured on Bonhill Building, 15 Bonhill Street, London EC2, for a term of four years.

Thu | 25 Jun 2020, 12:31

Southbank Place, a joint London venture project by Qatari Diar and Canary Wharf Group, has reached a major milestone with the completion of prominent residential tower, 30 Casson Square.

Thu | 25 Jun 2020, 12:31

European multifamily investment activity is expected to remain strong in Q2 and could surpass EUR22 billion for H1 2020, similar to 2019 levels, the second highest year on record, according to Savills latest research.

Thu | 25 Jun 2020, 12:31

Sculptor Capital Management has held a final close of its fourth opportunistic real estate fund, Sculptor Real Estate Fund IV (SRE IV), with total capital commitments of USD2.6 billion.

Thu | 25 Jun 2020, 12:31

Following on from decades of mixed property portfolios enjoying enormous popularity among universal investment companies in Germany and the establishment of the first German investment company specialising in logistics property in 2014, logistics funds are now springing up like mushrooms, according to RLI Investors.