NEWS ARCHIVE

TARGETFOLLOW IN STRATEGIC £85 MILLION ACQUISITION OF CENTRE POINT | 06/10/05

In what is its largest and most imaginative acquisition to date, Targetfollow Group, a leading commercial property company focused on town centre investments and developments, has bought the freehold of London's Centre Point for £85 million from Blackmoor LP.

Ian Fox, a Director of Targetfollow Group, said: "Centre Point is an iconic building in the centre of London and provides us with numerous opportunities to continue the revitalisation of a major London landmark and add significant value."

The Centre Point transaction follows Targetfollow's £54 million acquisition in July of International House, a prestigious office block in Marylebone, London after the Group's £290 million refinancing by Bank of Scotland.

The Centre Point estate consists of a 34- storey Grade II tower block, a two-storey link block housing the CBI's head office and conferencing centre, Centre Point House, which comprises retail, leisure and showrooms, and a block of 36 residential apartments.

It currently produces a net income of more that £6 million per annum. It will provide an initial yield of around 6.8%. Among exciting plans being considered are the creation fo an up market restaurant on the top two floors, a flexible approach to lettings, including part letting of individual floors, and options to maximise the 40-plus space underground car park.

The 1.1-acre development at the junction of Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road and Charring Cross Road, provides panoramic views of central London. It consists of more that 200,000 sq ft and among its 25 commercial tenants are the CBI, Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Learning and Skills Council and Business Link for London.

Ian Fox added: "As part of our general revitalisation plans we will allocate a portion of the space to Targetspace, our specialist serviced office provider subsidiary. Targetspace was launched this summer to take advantage of the increasing demand for flexible managed space."

" The proposed construction of Crossrail will provide a major boost to the area and we shall work closely with Camden Council to improve the overall image of Centre Point and its immediate surroundings."

Michael Elliott acted for Targetfollow Group and Franc Warwick acted for Blackmoor LP.