New development in centre of Cardiff sold in £56m deal
The 2 Central Square office scheme in the centre of Cardiff has been sold in a £56.5m deal.
In the biggest commercial property deal struck in Wales this year, property developer Rightacres and Legal and General have sold the 145,000 sq ft grade A office scheme at the Central Square regeneration scheme in the centre of Cardiff to Credit Suisse Assessment Management.
The building, which is currently under construction, is already fully pre-let to law firm Hugh James and the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.
Hugh James is taking 100,000 sq ft in the building in bringing its existing operations at Hodge House and Fusion Point under one roof
2 Central will be ready for occupancy next summer, alongside the under construction new 150,000 sq ft headquarters for BBC Cymru Wales.
The deal represents the latest milestone in the wider Central Square regeneration scheme, which eventually will see one million sq ft of new office, residential and retail space built.
Rightacres is developing the scheme in partnership with L&G, which is backing the project to the tune of £400m.
The Cardiff office of property advisory firm Knight Frank acted for Credit Suisse.
Earlier this year L&G sold the now fully let 1 Central Square office scheme at Central Square to European real estate and fund manager Aerium in a £51m deal.
Tenants in the 135,000 sq ft building include MotoNovo Finance, Blake Morgan and Hodge Group.
Laura Mason, director of direct investments, Legal & General Capital, said: “The transformation of Cardiff Central [Square] has been phenomenal and Legal & General’s continued funding commitment alongside the development expertise of our partner Rightacres will see the project evolve at an extremely impressive rate.
“Central Square is one of the UK’s most impressive and transformational regeneration schemes, and is already delivering major social and economic benefits as well as being a great match for Legal & General’s patient capital. We made a £15bn commitment to investing in UK infrastructure and have already invested over £12bn to date. As part of this, we remain committed to helping to rebuild the UK’s major regional centres and will continue to seek further significant investment opportunities in future-looking cities such as Cardiff.”
Chief executive of Rightacres, Paul McCarthy, said: “Getting a global player like Credit Suisse to invest at this level in Wales is great recognition of the Central Square development and Cardiff as a prime real estate location. The development momentum continues to build and the level of interest from both occupiers and investors continues to grow.”
Gareth Lloyd, partner at Knight Frank, who acted for Credit Suisse, said: “The acquisition of Two Central Square by Credit Suisse is further evidence that Cardiff is now one of the most sought after destinations the regions for both domestic and overseas investors. Given the strength of the office market dynamics and the ongoing infrastructure improvements in Cardiff we expect this trend to continue.”