July 10, 2018HENDERSON PARK ACQUIRES ICONIC WOOLWORTH HOUSE ON MARYLEBONE ROAD, LONDON NW1
London, 10th July 2018 – Henderson Park, the European real estate investment platform founded by Nick Weber, announces that it has acquired the iconic Woolworth House at 242/246 Marylebone Road in London NW1 for £94 million from Hermes Investment Management.
Originally constructed in 1959, Woolworth House is a highly distinctive Art Deco style office building which sits in a prime location near Regents Park, on the corner of Marylebone Road and Harewood Avenue. It benefits from close proximity to Baker Street and Edgware Road Underground stations, as well as being directly adjacent to the Marylebone railway station which serves 16 million people annually. The 159,000 sqft GIA eight storey office building originally served as Woolworths UK headquarters, and is now fully let with BNP Paribas as the main tenant occupying almost 50% of the office accommodation.
Woolworth House has multiple lease expiries with all leases due to expire by June 2022, presenting an opportunity to refurbish and re-let the building and bring the rental tone up to current market rents for prime, modern office space in this area.
The building’s facade is constructed of Portland Stone and features a number of incised carvings and a large sculpture above the portico, as well as a coloured sculpture of the Woolworths’ coat of arms on the central frieze. It was designed by Richard Seifert who also created Centre Point, Kings Reach and Tower 42.
Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, said: “Woolworth House is an extremely well located and highly distinctive office building which we believe offers enormous potential in London’s West End office market that has seen many office to residential conversions since 2008 and a constrained development pipeline. Our investment in Woolworth House is underpinned by the exciting asset management initiatives that we have identified for the building and our belief that London will retain its status as one of the world’s preeminent global cities and centres for international business, both of which will be key drivers of demand for the high quality product that we intend to deliver.”
Chris Taylor, Head of Private Markets at Hermes Investment Management, said: “The disposal of Woolworth House follows a proactive asset management strategy being implemented at the asset, which has included regearing of leaseholds within the building. Capital from this sale will be redeployed into new acquisitions which present an opportunity for added value to be achieved.”
Farmer Capital advised Hermes Investment Management on this transaction.
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACTS
For Henderson Park:
Richard Sunderland/Ellie Sweeney/Eve Kirmatzis: 020 3727 1489/[email protected]
For Hermes Investment Management:
Clare Hartshorne [email protected]
Eleanor Parry [email protected]
Nick Scott [email protected]
Redwood Consulting +44 (0)20 7828 5553 / +44 (0)7515 050 335
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About Henderson Park
Henderson Park is a real estate investment platform which was launched by Nick Weber in late 2016 and has already built a $3.4 billion portfolio of landmark European real estate assets across four countries. Henderson Park is backed by three cornerstone investors: Stone Point Capital, Kuwait Investment Authority and Wafra Investment Advisory Group.
Henderson Park has been established to invest in European real estate, primarily targeting gateway cities and seeking investments in both assets and companies. Henderson Park will pursue opportunities across a wide variety of commercial real estate sectors.
Henderson Park is led by Nick Weber, its Founding Partner and CEO. Nick has over 20 years of real estate experience, including most recently as Head of Europe for Mount Kellett and previously at Goldman Sachs for 14 years, where he was a Partner and Co-Head of its European Special Situations Group.
Hermes Investment Management
Hermes Investment Management, a Federated Investors company, provides world-class active investment management and stewardship services. Hermes, headquartered in London, manages £33.6 billion in assets and offers a broad range of specialist, high-conviction investment strategies spanning listed equities, credit, real estate, infrastructure, private debt and private equity. Hermes’ strategies focus not just on financial results, but also on delivering outcomes beyond performance: holistic returns that consider impacts to society, the environment and the wider world. In Hermes EOS, the company offers one of the industry’s leading engagement resources, representing £330.5 billion of assets. For more information, visit www.hermes-investment.com.
