Birmingham commercial campus acquired in £125m deal
Praxis and Veld Capital have bought Birmingham's Brindleyplace for £125m – with plans afoot to decarbonise the buildings to deliver “the best office and leisure space in the UK”.
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Brindleyplace, a commercial campus that comprises office, retail, hospitality and leisure space and is home to a range of national brands, has been acquired in a deal worth £125M – the largest UK regional office deal of the year.
A joint venture between Praxis, a UK property investment and management platform, and Veld Capital, a private credit specialist investor, have swooped for the 14.9-acre canal-side campus from HSBC Alternative Investments.
The iconic “work-live-play” campus, developed by Argent in the early 2000s, is one of Birmingham’s most popular business and leisure destinations with a community of over 8,000 people.
It is home to several prime office buildings, ground-floor retail and leisure amenities, tree-lined streets and three public squares.
The estate is currently 90 per cent occupied, hosting blue-chip and local tenants like Deutsche Bank, Michael Page, Lloyds, Deloitte, Marsh, Lloyds, Café Nero, Q-Parks, Zizzi, Pret a Manger and Piccolino.
Brindleyplace has recently benefited from a new tram extension and public realm improvements, as well as the opening of the neighbouring Paradise development.
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James Hewitt, COO at Praxis, said: "This is a hugely exciting acquisition for us. We are committed to ambitious Net Zero carbon targets for the assets we acquire, and the exceptional quality of the Brindleyplace scheme makes these buildings prime candidates for our retrofit strategy.
"Our intention now is to invest significant capital to decarbonise the buildings and deliver some of the best office and leisure space in the UK."
Sebastien Wigdo, partner at Veld Capital, added: "We are pleased to have acquired such a landmark, income-generating estate with strong existing ESG credentials and clear decarbonisation potential.
"This acquisition adds to our recently assembled portfolio of UK regional office properties with Praxis in what we believe is a once-in-a-cycle opportunity to invest and aggregate best-in-class properties, with strong fundamentals, at a very compelling entry basis.
"It also illustrates our pragmatic approach as a solutions-provider for sellers of high-quality assets in an uncertain economic climate."
Gerald Eve advised the purchaser. JLL and Acre Capital Real Estate advised the vendor.
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Images from Brindleyplace and Jack Babington.