TfL buys Covent Garden offices to generate income

26 August 2014
TfL has acquired the long lease for the offices above London's historic Covent Garden Tube station for £10m as part of its commercial vision to generate substantial non-fares income to reinvest back in to the transport network.
"Acquiring the long lease to our site above Covent Garden Tube station is part of our new approach to investing in our properties to generate substantial long-term income that we can reinvest back into the transport network"
Graeme Craig
Director of Commercial Development at TfL

TfL has been developing a strategy to maximise all of its assets and improve services for customers and will be generating £3.6bn over the life of the Business Plan.

TfL is one of the biggest landowners in London, owning around 5,700 acres across an extensive portfolio of buildings and land attached and above Tube stations, railways and highways.

New approach to the commercial vision

Property is therefore is a key element to the commercial vision and TfL is taking a new approach, investing in property sites to generate better rental income as well as working with partners on new developments to generate long term investment.

TfL already owns the freehold of the offices above Convent Garden Tube station and has acquired the long lease with 100 years left to run from Didier Tandy's Sunnyday Capital.

The seller, Didier Tandy's Sunnyday Capital, represented by national commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) and TfL was represented by JLL.

Substantial long-term income

Graeme Craig, Director of Commercial Development at TfL, said: 'As one of the biggest landowners in London, TfL already has an extensive property portfolio.

'Acquiring the long lease to our site above Covent Garden Tube station is part of our new approach to investing in our properties to generate substantial long-term income that we can reinvest back into the transport network.

Property is a key part of this strategy and we are actively exploring other opportunities to develop and expand our property portfolio.'

Competitive bidding process

James McAdden, Associate Director of Central London Capital Markets at LSH, said: 'We secured the sale of the offices following a highly competitive bidding process and the purchase price of £10m reflects the robust investor demand for West End office space.'

William Chambers, Associate Director of Capital Markets Development Consulting at JLL, said: 'This acquisition demonstrates TfL's opportunity led appetite to acquire assets which can add long term value to their estate.

'It is a great example of TfL's ability to respond to market opportunities transacting in less than 4 weeks from bid acceptance through to completion. JLL is pleased to have worked with one of London's key active landowners.'

The 11,754 sq ft offices at 40 Long Acre, WC2, are currently let to brand consultancy, Interbrand Group, with the lease expiring in June 2015.