Investment into commercial real estate fell in 2016 as the UK’s vote for Brexit bashed any hope of a bumper year. Every one of EGi’s 10 biggest investment deals of 2016 were made before the referendum result in June.
Despite calls that a weakened pound would boost purchases, none of the top 10 investments of 2016 got close to the largest investment of the previous year: the £1.1bn portfolio sale of Liberty Living Student Dwellings to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Scroll to the bottom to see an interactive chart of the top ten investments of 2016.
>>> Click here for the biggest office deals of 2016
Green Park, Reading, Berkshire – £563m
Purchased in May by Mapletree Investments from Oxford Properties. The business park, one of the largest in Europe, was bought by Oxford Properties back in 2011.
Intu Merry Hill, Dudley, West Midlands – £410m
Purchased by Intu Properties in June at an initial yield of 5.2%. The shopping centre giant already owned a 50% stake in the scheme.
Principal Place, EC2 – £400m
Purchased in May by ENPAM, the Italian National Welfare and Assistance for Psychologists, for an initial yield of 4.25%. The Italian group failed to buy the Gherkin in 2014.
King’s Cross Central, N1 – £371m
Industry superannuation fund AustralianSuper purchased a 36.5% stake from the UK government in January. It already owns a 25% stake in the 8m sq ft scheme – Europe’s largest city centre development.
Aldgate Tower, E1 – £346m
Purchased by asset manager Brookfield in April. Initial yield: 4.9%.
Grand Central Shopping Centre, Birmingham, West Midlands – £335m
Hammerson beat off competition from British Land and Grosvenor for the newly developed centre in January. Initial yield: 3.75%.
Liverpool One, Liverpool, Merseyside – £300m
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority increased its stake in the shopping centre with this purchase in January.
2 Thomas More Square, E1 – £300m
Land Securities sold the former home of Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire to Resolution Property in March.
88 Wood Street, EC2 – £270m
In April, a company controlled by the Shaw Foundation went under offer to buy the 17-storey building from Malaysian pension fund Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen at a 4.6% net initial yield.
TfL building, Stratford International Quarter, E20 – £246m
Legal & General Retirement bought the Transport for London building from Lendlease and LCR in January.
