The property investment firm headed up by has continued a surge of deals for buildings in Birmingham’s business district by buying another on Great Charles Street.
City-based Real Estate Investors has acquired the 24,500 sq ft 35-37 Great Charles Street in a £1.85 million deal.
The acquisition comes a matter of days after the outlined plans to part-pedestrianise Great Charles Street.
The building, which borders the Paradise development, is part let and tenants include National Governors’ Association, Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, Allianz Management Services and Northern Marine Underwriters.
The deal follows REI’s acquisitions of and in the past year.
Mr Bassi, whose £80 million fortune earns him a place in the , said: “This acquisition is an excellent addition to our city centre portfolio, located at the heart of the city centre regeneration and adjoining existing REI property.
“This building offers the opportunity to add value from new lettings and lease renewals in an improved office occupier market. Additionally, we have recently agreed new banking facilities, secured against some of our unencumbered assets.
“These facilities allow us to negotiate a number of further criteria investments, with cash funds, which we hope to secure and announce in the first half of 2015.”
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The REI investment comes amid strong interest in Great Charles Street in recent months.
The Great Charles Estate, a portfolio of seven properties, has been and on the other side of the road.
Sterling Property Ventures is also working up plans for the plot further down.
The street is set for a major renaissance following the 20-year Snow Hill Masterplan, which covers the Snow Hill and Colmore areas of the city, launched last month as part of plans to make the city a global finance hub.
The proposals would mean ushering cars away from Great Charles Street to create a more pedestrian-friendly area and free up space for office development.
In all, the masterplan proposes 2.2 million sq ft – the size of 28 football pitches – of new office space.
The plan also outlines major changes to roads and a significant redevelopment of Snow Hill station – the main connection between the business district and London.
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The scheme would see new commercial buildings replacing the station’s multi-storey car park in a bid to encourage more firms to base themselves in Birmingham, following in the footsteps of Deutsche Bank, which has seen its staff numbers in the city rise from 60 to more than 2,000 in recent years.
Documents filed with the London Stock Exchange show 35-37 Great Charles Street is currently producing £214,709 a year income from tenants.