Asset Description

Located on Charles II Street, in the heart of London’s St. James’s in close proximity to St. James’s Square and Jermyn Street. The area benefits from excellent transport connections and is in proximity to the retail hub of Regent Street and Piccadilly.

An attractive Grade II listed period building, with 8,339 sq ft of retail and office accommodation, split between lower ground, ground and five upper floors.

Ownership and Tenancy

Long leasehold with 68 years remaining to the Crown Estate on a 15% geared head lease of passing rent.

Let to 7 tenants, poorly managed and let at below market levels with current gross passing rent of £420,762 per annum, reflecting a low overall rent of £48/sq ft.

The majority of the tenants had breaks or rent reviews within 2-4 years.

Investment Overview

WMG acquired the asset through a combination of debt and equity. The strategy was to implement an effective asset management programme to improve the state of the building. This improvement was achieved through modernisation and refurbishment of both the common areas as well as the individual floors, once tenancy expiry had occurred. In order to further increase the value of the asset, following the refurbishment and achieving increased rents, WMG has approached the freeholder (Crown Estate) to extend the duration of the headlease.