Introduction
Annan House is one of the largest office developments in Aberdeen City Centre. It is an award winning 120,000 square feet "Grade A" office building completed in 2015 by Drum Property Group and occupied by energy focussed companies Enquest, Bumi Armada, Worley Parsons, Offshore Energies UK and Three60 EPCC.
For close to a decade we have been involved in the legal work associated with the investment interest in this asset. Our engagement is book-ended by the original acquisition of the newly developed office building in 2015 (for Rockspring, subsequently acquired by PATRIZIA) and the eventual sale of the property in 2024, with our providing all necessary asset management assistance in the interim period.
Key Highlights
- Corporate acquisition of the company holding a long-leasehold investment interest in the brand new office premises and inputting to occupational lease documentation which was being negotiated simultaneously with ongoing development works
- Acquisition of the heritable (freehold) interest in the property from Aberdeen City Council to consolidate the title interests held
- Transfer of the long-lease investment interest to the Jersey Property Unit Trust holding entity, by way of distribution in specie to facilitate an internal re-structure.
- Asset management work including consents to subleases, variations of occupational leases, wayleave agreements linked to utility supplies, and rent reviews
- Eventual £32m disposal of the asset, including both heritable and lease-hold interests, together with various ancillary legal interests held by our client in respect of the property.
Conclusion
The support that we have provided to PATRIZIA on Annan House demonstrates that we can deal with high value and complex investment deals, both in terms of acquisitions and disposals. Over the course of our engagement on this development, we have involved a number of our various teams - including real estate, corporate and construction - showing that we take a holistic approach to our full-service legal offering.
In particular, we are proud of our performance on the sale of this transaction, which required a huge amount of work against a very challenging timetable. We completed this sale in just over four weeks from first instruction, confirming our ability to deliver when it matters most.
