St James’s Court changes hands
London investor Boultbee Brooks Real Estate has paid Himor £6.5m for St James's Court, a vacant office building at 24-30 Brown Street in Manchester's commercial core.
St James's Court contains 38,000 sq ft over five floors with underground parking. BBRE plans to undertake a full refurbishment of the property and is considering a roof top garden over the atrium.
The acquisition of St James's Court follows the purchase of Croxley House, announced last week.
Boultbee Brooks development director, Roger James, said the site 'is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the strong occupational demand we continue to see in Manchester.'
Will Ainscough, director of Himor, said: "We wish Boultbee Brooks all the best in delivering this exciting opportunity. They performed professionally and efficiently during the transaction and the deal went through seamlessly. We will now look to reinvest the money into brownfield strategic planning opportunities throughout the UK."
Aurum Real Estate acted on behalf of Boultbee Brooks Real Estate. OBI Property and CBRE acted on behalf of Himor.
38,000 sq ft for £6.5m? Provided they can get the refurb done cheaply-enough someone’s got themselves a right bargain here… Fair play. Would love to see it torn-down and replaced with a Chancery place-esque building instead though… wonder what rights-to-light that building behind it in the photo has.
By Yses
It was a lousy building to work-in even back in the 90s and it will take some scheme to get over its constraints.
By Dominic
I am hopeful they will re-develop the site, though doubtful.
By Yarrum
I wonder if a No 1 Deansgate-esque glass "sloping" building would work on this plot so that neighboring building retains substantial natural light and we could get a new landmark £30 /sq ft building in the traditional prime core.
By Dreamworld developer
Poor building, tucked away, surrounded by taller properties. Good luck!
By Asif
Looking forward to the resale with rental guarantees on 50% of the accommodation.
By Rampemin