M&G Real Estate has bought U+I and CTP’s 3 St Paul’s Place in Sheffield for £24m.
The 78,000 sq ft building, part of Sheffield’s £185m Heart of the City regeneration, was the first office speculatively developed in the city since the recession.
Occupiers include Arup, architects BDP and HLM, Swedish bank Handelsbanken and law firm Freeths.
The rest of St Paul’s place is a mixed-use scheme with occupiers ranging from DLA Piper, PwC, RBS and Barclays. It also includes a 330-flat residential tower block, restaurants and cafes and the 161-bed St Paul’s Mercure hotel.
David Topham, director of developer CTP, said: “The remarkable success of St Paul’s Place – and 3 St Paul’s Place in particular – has transformed and ignited the city’s office market.
“When we embarked on the overall development, grade-A rents were about £15 per sq ft. They are now a record-breaking £24.50 per sq ft.
“We are very grateful to all our funders and investors who backed our plans in the recession when development finance was scarce. They believed in us and we are delighted to have repaid that faith.”
Knight Frank advised CTP and U+I.
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