Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management UK has provided £16m in debt financing across two UK office assets in Central London and Surrey.
The lender delivered a debt funding solution for Oxygen Asset Management to acquire and refurbish 11 Leadenhall Street, a 15,117sqft office property located in the City of London.
Oxygen required flexibility to roll-out a comprehensive refurbishment project on the property’s common areas and around 2,000 sq ft office floorplates.
Westbrooke also provided a debt facility to refinance an office asset in Leatherhead — the 43,000sqft regional office asset was recently refurbished, following the refurbishment and reconfiguration to smaller office floor plates — the borrower agreed a long-term lease to an office provider.
Commenting on the deal with Oxygen, Harry Newall, at Westbrooke said: “The borrower seeks to capitalise on Central London’s increasingly liquid leasing market for best-in-class, small floor plate office space. Through their rolling fit-out schedule, Oxygen have outlined a stable pathway for the asset to achieve the premium market rental rates on offer. The group’s new value-add office strategy is underpinned by their experience and expertise in the sector—a key advantage that we are pleased to be backing.”
Speaking on the Leatherhead deal, James Lightbody, Head of UK Real Estate at Westbrooke, commented: “When done correctly, small floor plate office space offers a great opportunity. While there has been a lot of debate around the future of offices, we are active in the market to back the right product. A clear reason for being, backed by a proven tenant base with substantial remaining lease durations, and a well-structured asset management strategy are the underpinning fundamentals to our involvement in this transaction.”
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Source: Bridging & Commercial
