Allsop’s leading West End Investment team acted on behalf of Workspace Group in its acquisition of 13-17 Fitzroy Street, announced last week. Workspace Group has signed an option agreement for the right to acquire the freehold for £98.5m, from Arup, the owner and occupier of the office building in Fitzrovia, London W1. The option is expected to be exercised on 25 March 2017.
The building is located in a sought-after location, boasting excellent transport links with Goodge Street station on the Northern Line within a short walking distance. It is also situated near vibrant Charlotte Street, renowned for being home to a number of media and creative companies and on the doorstep of some of Fitzrovia’s best bars, cafes and restaurants.
Workspace will be acquiring the building at a capital value of £1,063 per sq. ft. with an initial net yield of 4.6%.
The 92,700 sq. ft. building is let to Arup until September 2022 at an annual rent of £4.9m (£53 per sq. ft.), rising to £6.0m (£65 per sq. ft.) from March 2021. Arup will be relocating from the building with the lease providing for their early exit from September 2020 with a rolling nine-month break option. Workspace will then look to reposition the building as a multi-let business centre.
Piers Glover, Partner, Commercial West End Investment at Allsop, said: “13-17 Fitzroy Street is a prime West End office building situated in one of London’s most vibrant ‘villages’; the size of the building & its future potential means it is ideally suited to Workspace’s flexible office space business model, making the acquisition very exciting for Workspace. The deal underpins the confidence of domestic capital in London & the West End real estate market.”
