The Crown Estate and Oxford Properties have today announced they have agreed a £145 million extension to the St James’s Market Partnership, with the establishment of a new joint venture for a 160,000 sq ft commercial block between St Alban’s Street and Haymarket.
The 50:50 partnership builds on the two firms’ existing £320 million St James’s Market joint venture, which was established in 2013 to redevelop two neighbouring blocks between Regent Street St James’s and Haymarket.
Work is currently underway on site to deliver 260,000 sq ft of restaurant, retail and office accommodation, along with improvements to the public realm, with completion expected next year.
For this venture, the same arrangement will apply, with The Crown Estate retaining the freehold and acting as asset manager, while Oxford Properties will be responsible for bringing the strength of its UK and global platforms to complement The Crown Estate team’s expertise.
Director of Investment and Asset Management at The Crown Estate, Paul Clark expressed his delight with the partnership extension, saying; “This transaction emphasises our commitment to developing the relationships we’ve established with a small number of strategic partners, like Oxford Properties, which share our values and long term outlook.”
Paul Brundage, Executive Vice President and Senior Managing Director of Oxford Properties Europe added: “We’re equally delighted to be extending our relationship with The Crown Estate with this investment.
“St James’s is an area of London we are very excited about and the creation of a second joint venture with a like-minded strategic partner further provides us with the opportunity to realise our European strategy to invest in core markets and core assets alongside a development programme to enhance portfolio returns.
“We take a long-term view and are committed to delivering our investment objectives to become a C$10bn real estate business in Europe by 2018.”
The Crown Estate’s £500m investment in its St James’s portfolio includes half of the property in the area, and its focus is on redeveloping historic blocks in order to create a modern leisure, retail and office destination in the West End.
