Princes Exchange deal welcomed
A DEAL which has seen a Leeds office block bought for more than £30m has been welcomed but is not expected to seriously revitalise the regional office market.
Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund has bought Princes Exchange from Canada Life Investments for reportedly close to the asking price of £36.9m.
Canada Life had bought the 108,000 sq ft building, home to law firm DLA Piper, from Credit Suisse for £46.5m in 2005.
A professional who did not want to be named said it was good news for the Leeds market as historically international institutional investors have preferred other centres including Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
However, the professional said because of a lack of supply in Leeds city centre other deals of a similar type were unlikely.
“There’s very limited supply of Grade A stock in the city centre. However, this is the best building in the city core.”
Speculative office development is still scarce across the region because of market conditions and completed schemes that have struggled to attract tenants.
Gerald Eve’s Garry Howes marketed the property for Canada Life. Knight Frank, led by Henrie Westlake, advised Credit Suisse.
