Ivanhoé Cambridge Expands in London

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Ivanhoé Cambridge has acquired 21 Lombard St., a Class A office property located in the City of London, for approximately $198 million.

DTZ represented the seller in the transaction, while Greycoat and Knight Frank acted for Ivanhoé Cambridge. The name of the seller was not disclosed.

“We have said that we are focused on building critical mass of quality assets in central London and this acquisition supports our European and global investment strategy,” a spokesperson for Ivanhoé Cambridge, told Commercial Property Executive.

The property is considered a prestigious Class A core asset, offering 116,000 square feet of leasable space. It is currently leased exclusively to Swiss bank UBS for the long term.

“We are very proud of this acquisition, our third office property in the City of London in less than six months,” Meka Brunel, Ivanhoé Cambridge’s executive vice president, said in a company release.

The company also acquired 3 Minster Court, a 275,000-square-foot building, for $256.4 million in March, and the 150,000-square-foot Stonecutter Court for approximately $168 million earlier in the year.

According to Colliers’ U.K. Research & Forecast Report for London Offices, April 2015, Grade A absorption remained strongly positive during the first quarter of 2015, reaching 1.5 million square feet, up 39 percent on the equivalent period from the year prior. The report showed London prime rental growth shows no sign of cooling, as quarterly headline growth in Q1 2015 stood at 5 percent. Year-on-year average headline rental growth is running at 11.5 percent with the majority of submarkets in excess of that figure.

Ivanhoé Cambridge holds assets totaling approximately $35 billion, located in Canada, the United States, Europe, Brazil, Mexico and Asia.

Last month, Ivanhoé Cambridge teamed with Blackstone Property Partners Asia on a 25 percent interest in Liberty Place, a 42-story office tower complex in Sydney, Australia.