RealEstateFundManager.com: Gherkin

Safra planning to build 'The Tulip', aka 'The Sperm'

PUBLISHED APRIL 26, 2014

London's Gherkin put into receivership

Holders of debt act to take control of the landmark building to end years of defaults

PRINT |EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

'CUCUMBER' TOWER

The 180-metre Gherkin, London's third-tallest building, was both ridiculed and admired when it opened as the Swiss Re tower 10 years ago. Swiss Re and Standard Chartered are among its tenants. - PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

London

LENDERS to the Gherkin, the conical skyscraper that's one of London's best-known landmarks, have appointed a receiver to take control of the building to end years of defaults.

Holders of debt backed by the 30 St Mary Axe tower in the City of London financial district hired Deloitte LLP after "adverse interest rate and currency movements have caused the total senior liabilities secured by the property to increase materially", the company said in a statement.

Receivership is similar to US bankruptcy protection.

From Straits Times - April 26, 2014

The cucumber shaped building at 30 St Mary Axe one of London best known landmarked opened 10 years ago this month.

The 180M tower is fully occupied according to Evans Randall, a London base company that bought the property with a fund managed by Germany IVG Immobilien for British pound 600M in 2007.

The building was valued at British pound 473M to 510M in 2012. ……….Brokers will be salivating in the change of ownership.

HSBC London HQ. 44 storey (built in 2002) in Canary Wharf is on sale and could fetch over British pound 1.1 Billion. It was sold for 1.09 Billion at the height of the property boom in 2007. HSBC has a 13 years lease on the bld. HSBC sold to Spanish property Co Metrovacesa for 1.1B but took back ownership in late 2008 when Metrovacesa ran into financial difficulties. South Korean pension fund bought building from HSBC for nearly 800M.

Last year Blackstone sold its 50% stake City Broadgate complex to GIC & Dikran Izmirlian sold the More to Kuwait state property co. Both deals were reportedly priced at about 1.7B British pounds

· article on the Gherkin’s iconic status ; http://archinect.com/news/article/84833004/investing-in-risk-how-the-gherkin-became-a-british-icon;

· article regards CBRE’s recent appointment as thhttps://id.wsj.com/access/pages/wsj/us/login_standalone.html?mg=id-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.wsj.com%2Fcanadarealtime%2F2014%2F08%2F14%2Fdesire2learn-raises-85m-to-deliver-personalized-education%2F%3Fmod%3DWSJBlog%26mod%3DWSJ_Canada_Realtime&user=gloveralst&mg=id-wsj&mg=id-wsje Gherkin’s property managers; http://www.cpexecutive.com/regions/international/cbre-tapped-to-manage-londons-gherkin/1004082796.html;