Columbia Threadneedle has sold two office blocks in Hammersmith and Richmond, as the investor continues to wind down its Carbon Neutral Fund.
The asset manager sold the freeholds for 63 Kew Road in Richmond Upon Thames, south-west London, and Grove House at 27 Hammersmith Grove, W6, for a combined £24m last month.
Central & Provincial Properties bought Grove House, a 62,063 sq ft 1940s office block, for £16.5m. Urbana Partners bought the Kew Road office, which measures 32,498 sq ft, for £7.5m.
The sale prices came at sizeable discounts to the assets’ most recent valuations. In the latest investor report available on the fund’s website, dated Q3 2021, 63 Kew Road had a market value of £20.3m and Grove House of £41.6m.
Both buildings sat within the company’s Carbon Neutral Real Estate Fund, a joint venture between Columbia Threadneedle, Stanhope and the Carbon Trust that launched in 2010. They are two of six highly sustainable office properties in the Capital Portfolio that JLL was instructed to sell last year for around £131m, at a 6.5% initial yield.
The move follows the sale of other assets in the portfolio, including 23,000 sq ft Mansel House in Wimbledon, SW19, which was bought by investor and developer Korol as part of a £150m strategy to reposition older offices.
The asset manager has also sold the freeholds for a further two assets in the portfolio, at 41 Luke Street, EC2 and 69 Carter Lane, EC4, according to research from Savills.
A spokesperson for Columbia Threadneedle Investments confirmed the sale of Grove House last month, adding: “With high demand for sustainable building at present, and with the support of our clients, we believe the time was right to sell the asset.”
JLL declined to comment.
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