Middle East buyers back in for prime London site

Middle Eastern investors are buying up a 20-storey commercial building on London’s South Bank for £266.5 million in a sign that international interest in UK prime real estate is still going strong.

Wolfe Asset Management Limited – which is owned by Dubai’s Al Gurg family – has exchanged contracts to buy the three-year old building at 240 Blackfriars Road from the Great Ropemaker Partnership (GRP), which is a joint venture between Great Portland Estates and Ropemaker Properties.

The 226,271 sq ft site was constructed in 2014 and is currently let to seven office tenants including UBM, Boodle Hatfield, Ramboll and Lonely Planet Publications, which pay rents ranging from £47 to £65 per square foot.

The building also hosts retail tenants including Pret a Manger and Abokado.

The deal also includes an adjoining 10,690 sq ft retail and residential building known as Cubitt House, where ten apartments have been sold on long leases.