12-14 New Fetter Lane, EC4

Acquisition of the long leasehold interest in a 142,000 sq ft headquarter office building, single let to Bird & Bird, on behalf of UBS.

12-14 New Fetter Lane EC4 is a flagship Midtown building, developed and completed by GPE in 2015 to comprise 145,000 sq ft of prime office accommodation over basement, ground and 12 upper floors. The building occupies a 0.34 acre island site and benefits from BREEAM Excellent and EPC sustainability credentials.

The building was originally 100% pre-let to Bird & Bird for a term of 25 years providing circa 11 years unexpired income at the point of purchase off a low overall rent of £57.05 per sq ft with the next rent review in December 2025. A detailed analysis of the pending rent review by our lease advisory team was critical in the underwrite, informed by our leasing team’s representation on a number of the surrounding new developments including Edenica next door where we have since achieved a headline rent of over £100 per sq ft on best. The combination of lot size and long-leasehold tenure, aligned with the rise in borrowing costs, enabled our client to conclude the transaction for a significant discount, substantially below replacement value (£133Mn / 5.80% / £915 psf). We anticipate the running yield to improve to over 6.50% on settlement of the pending rent review with very positive emerging leasing evidence and further rental growth anticipated between now and December 2025.