Landmark Glasgow office building changes hands in bumper £40m deal

A prominent Glasgow office building has been sold to Singaporean investors in one of the biggest Scottish property deals since the onset of the pandemic.

150 Broomielaw in Glasgow, centre building, has been sold in one of the biggest UK office deals outside of London following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The city’s 150 Broomielaw, which is located by the side of the Clyde and occupied by Scottish Enterprise, has been acquired for some £40 million by Singapore-based Elite Partners Capital from a Jersey Trust.

Developed in 2001, the office building is situated in the heart of Glasgow’s International Financial Services District (IFSD), occupying a prominent position between Brown Street and James Watt Street. It offers 96,759 square feet of Grade A office accommodation over eight floors and is entirely let to Scottish Enterprise, and occupied by Scottish Ministers.

Commercial property consultancy Knight Frank advised the seller, while Colliers acted for Elite Partners Capital, which intends to add 150 Broomielaw to its UK Commercial Fund III.

John Rae, head of office at Knight Frank Glasgow, said: “The deal for 150 Broomielaw demonstrates the resilience of the commercial property market in Scotland – despite the wider economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Glasgow’s fundamentals remain strong, with favourable supply-demand dynamics. The transaction also shows that international buyers are still actively looking at Scotland for the right type of product and we are confident that more deals can conclude this year, where expectations can be aligned.”

Patrick Ford, capital markets director at Colliers Scotland, said: “Overseas capital continues to be the main driver in Scotland’s commercial property market – that looks likely to remain the case for the rest of 2020, and looking into 2021.

“The 150 Broomielaw deal shows that the market is beginning to emerge from lockdown in good shape.”

Victor Song, chief executive of Elite Partners Capital, added: “Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK continues to offer property investment opportunities with promising potential returns.

“150 Broomielaw is the latest significant addition to Elite’s existing portfolio of commercial and logistics assets. We continue to appraise similar opportunities for our investors, as we grow our assets under management in the UK.”

A report from property adviser CBRE in July showed that take-up for the Glasgow office market totalled 61,305 sq ft during the second quarter of 2020, a 67 per cent drop from the same period in 2019 and 69 per cent down on the Q2 five-year average.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director