BE Offices has embarked on a
major expansion push, acquiring four serviced office centres in central London
spanning more than 100,000 sq ft.
The portfolio is understood to
comprise centres previously run by Avanta which Regus had to offload in order
to gain regulatory approval for its £40m
acquisition of the company last year.
The £9m deal involves the
acquisition of the businesses and leases, but not the buildings. It therefore
marks a change of direction for the company, which owns most of the properties
behind its centres.
The acquisition also
significantly expands BE’s portfolio to 857,000 sq ft, adding more than 1,500
workstations and taking it into new areas of London in the West End and
Docklands.
“This acquisition enables us to
expand both our portfolio of centres and our geographic spread away from the
City to other key central London business districts,” said David
Saul, BE’s managing director.
He conceded that the EU
referendum result had created “huge uncertainties” for businesses but that it
was not necessarily bad news for the serviced office sector.
“Companies requiring additional
space but nervous of committing to fixed-term, fully repairing and insuring
leases in the present uncertain economic climate are able to take short-term,
high-quality accommodation for as long as they need - whether that be for a few
months or a few years,” he said.
The biggest centre in the
portfolio is at 83 Victoria Street, near London Victoria train station, which
totals 41,670 sq ft and provides 618 workstations.
It also includes a 28,000 sq ft
centre at 5 Merchant Quay, Paddington, which is in the same building as Marks
& Spencer’s head offices and is set to benefit from the opening of Crossrail.
BE has entered into a new 10-year lease there with European Land at £60/sq ft.
The other two in the portfolio
are a 22,000 sq ft centre at Evergreen House North, Grafton Place, in Euston
and a 14,000 sq ft centre, 5 Harbour Exchange in Canary Wharf.
In addition to the acquisition,
BE has taken a further 6,600 sq ft on the sixth floor at 107 Cheapside, in the
City near St Paul’s Cathedral, where it opened a 13,400 sq ft office in November last year.
If you are interested in office space with BE offices please call Gryphon Property Partners on 0203 440 9800 or click on the following link - Office