Feb 27, 2003
Slough Estates plc, Europe’s largest international business space provider, has today announced the purchase of a further office redevelopment opportunity in Central Paris. The 3,000 m2 (32,000 ft2) building in Avenue Kléber is only 200 metres from the Arc de Triomphe and was until recently one of Alcatel’s headquarters buildings.
30 Avenue Kléber will be refurbished to provide high quality office accommodation behind a period facade and will be leased on the open market, ready for occupation by autumn, 2003. This will be the third office redevelopment scheme that Slough has carried out in the fashionable 16th District in Central Paris in the last 3 years. With its combination of high-class office, retail and residential accommodation, the 16th is often compared to London’s Mayfair. It is particularly popular for corporate headquarters and for consultancy firms.
The purchase follows closely on the heels of Slough’s very successful office scheme at Place d?Iéna which was refurbished, leased to Eversheds and sold to Nextra, an Italian fund advised by Henderson Global Investors, all within a 12 month period. Prior to that, Slough had purchased and redeveloped Glaxo Welcome’s 4,500 m2 headquarters building in nearby Rue Vineuse.
The City Centre office market in Paris has continued to perform well over the past 18 months at a time when other office markets in Europe have suffered. This is partly because of constraints on development in the area which restrict large scale redevelopment schemes. The lack of an oversupply has in turn encouraged investors and demand for prime, well let office buildings remains very healthy.
Commenting on the purchase, Ian Coull, Chief Executive of Slough Estates said: “Schemes such as Place d’Iéna and Avenue Kléber provide a valuable source of trading profits and are proof that Slough has the knowledge and experience to capitalise on opportunities in Continental Europe. We also have the financial strength and the flexibility to react quickly when the right opportunity presents itself. When Alcatel approached us in October they were very keen to complete the sale by the year end and despite a very tight time-scale we have been able to achieve this.”
Slough Estates has been active in the Paris market since 1972 and in that time has built over 430,000 m2 (4.6m ft2) of which 60% is retained in the investment portfolio. Alcatel was advised by Strategies & Corp.
For further information, please contact:
Simon Hollins Slough Estates plc Tel: 00 44 (0) 1753 537171
Andrew Best Shared Value Tel: 00 44 (0) 207 3215010