A large portion of the Brindleyplace estate in Birmingham city centre has been placed on the market just five years after it was acquired for £190 million.
Hines and Moorfield bought eight buildings on the 17-acre mixed-use estate in summer 2010 but earlier this year Moorfield sold a real estate investment portfolio to Dallas-based Lone Star for around £1 billion which included Brindleyplace.
Hines and Lone Star have now instructed property consultancies CBRE and Colliers International, itself based in Eleven Brindleyplace, to bring the buildings to market with earlier reports suggesting the price could be in the region of £300 million.
The deal comprises office buildings Three, Four, Five, Six and Nine Brindleyplace whose occupiers include RBS, Deutsche Bank, Deloitte and Bilfinger GVA.
Together, they cover more than 470,000 sq ft of grade A office space alongside ground-floor retail and leisure space including three new restaurants to be built within Three Brindleyplace.
The portfolio also includes Brunswick Arcade, an 890-space multi-storey car park, retail parade and health club, and the Café in the Square unit which is let to Costa.
The joint venture said it was selling its ownership to capitalise on the unprecedented level of investment demand in the city, fuelled by new developments such as Paradise and Arena Central which will be the new HQ of HSBC UK.
Ed Gamble, executive director at CBRE in Birmingham, said the sale was coming at an exciting time for the city and its property market.
"The occupational market is buoyant in Birmingham, characterised by a lack of supply, strong tenant demand and increasing inward investment activity, exemplified by HSBC and the confidence it has shown in the city," he said.
"This is combined with record take-up figures for the first half of the year, forecasted rental growth from £30 per sq ft to £35.50 per sq ft over the next three years and the fact Birmingham has more capital committed to infrastructure projects than any other European city.
"Brindleyplace is well set to benefit from this going forward. For investors, it presents an extremely rare opportunity to acquire the majority of one of the UK's most successful, office-led, mixed-use schemes."
Pictures: Brindleyplace and its neighbours being built
