SLI sells A-listed Glasgow Grosvenor building in £18m deal

The A-listed building in Gordon Street in the city centre represents a current rental yield of 6.9 per cent for Global Real Estate (GRE) and vacant space on the first and second floors provides further scope to increase on that figure.

UBS Asset Management, a large-scale asset manager with invested assets totalling EUR 574 billion (Pounds 545bn), said it was drawn to the recently refurbished building because of its location, directly opposite Glasgow central station, while a number of blue-chip occupiers are within close proximity of the property.

The deal is UBS AM’s first transaction in the city.

The building provides 50,083sq ft of office space over six upper floors and a 6,323sq ft retail unit at ground floor level.

Howard Meaney, head of GRE – UK at UBS AM, noted that the building is multi-let to strong covenants, providing an attractive weighted average unexpired lease term.

He said: “We were drawn to Glasgow having identified the highly attractive investment fundamentals on offer there, including a strengthening occupational market and high levels of demand for grade A office space, coupled with a limited development pipeline and diminishing supply.”

The building was owned by Edinburgh-based SLI UK real estate fund, which is headed by George Shaw.

A spokeswoman said: “Grosvenor House was bought by the fund, refurbished and re-let, and then sold in line with the investment strategy of the fund.”