HFF Advises Seaforth Land in £90.8M Acquisition Loan from Blackstone for CAA House, London

HFF Real Estate Limited (HFF) announces the £90.8 million acquisition financing of CAA House, two interconnected office buildings totaling 222,269 square feet in London’s Covent Garden, Midtown submarket.

The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, Seaforth Land Holdings Limited, to secure the five-year loan through Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies division. In conjunction with this acquisition loan, Blackstone is also extending financing toward the refurbishment of the property.

CAA House comprises two buildings at 1 Kemble Street and 45-59 Kingsway that are connected via a two-story link bridge on the first and second floors. Originally developed as “Space House” in 1969, the properties were listed in 2015 as “Grade II” by English Heritage. 1 Kemble Street is a 16-storey, 138,556-square-foot building and 45 Kingsway has 62,607 square feet within eight storeys. The property offers parking for 22 vehicles and common basements offering 21,106 square feet of ancillary accommodation. Located in the dynamic Covent Garden submarket, CAA House is close to many of London’s iconic entertainment and cultural offerings, including Leicester Square, Soho, Covent Garden Piazza, Royal Opera House, Somerset House, the British Museum and the Theatre District. Additionally, Covent Garden has become a world-renowned shopping and leisure destination attracting more than 45 million visitors per year. CAA House is well served by transport being situated close to Holborn, Covent Garden and Temple tube stations as well as the new Elizabeth Line station at Tottenham Court Road set to open this year.

Tyler Goodwin, CEO of Seaforth Land, comments: “As a value investor and a fiduciary, Blackstone’s facility helps us generate a compelling risk adjusted return while maintaining a conservative loan to value ratio. Blackstone and HFF have been a pleasure to work with, particularly given the exceptionally competitive market for this off-market transaction. They immediately recognised our vision for place-making with unique and creative office and retail space. We’re looking forward to returning ‘Spacehaus’ to the London office market as a celebration of mid-century modern Brutalist architecture.”

Michael Zerda, Managing Director and Head of Europe for Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, said: “This transaction is an excellent example of Blackstone’s ability to provide senior loans against high quality real estate, in support of high calibre borrowers at competitive terms. CAA House is a prominent landmark in London’s Covent Garden, and Seaforth Land sought a low-leverage yet flexible lending solution which fits squarely within our investment parameters.”

The HFF debt placement team included senior managing director Michael Kavanau and managing director Edward Daubeney.

About Seaforth Land Holdings Limited

Seaforth Land is a real estate operating partner for professional and institutional investors. We focus exclusively on Central London commercial property investing across the risk-return spectrum while placing a priority on delivering superior net-to-investor returns with fiduciary care. Seaforth’s in-house capabilities start with proprietary macro and micro research and cover the entire asset lifecycle, from acquisitions, asset management, planning, design, development and dispositions. Our specialisation, world-class team, and in-depth market knowledge gain us access to off-market investments and help us to make better informed investment decisions for our own capital and that of our partners.

About Blackstone

Blackstone (NYSE: BX) is one of the world's leading investment firms. Blackstone seeks to create positive economic impact and long-term value for its investors, the companies it invests in, and the communities in which it works. Blackstone does this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Blackstone's asset management businesses, with over $450 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

About HFF

HFF and its affiliates operate out of 26 offices and are a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the global commercial real estate industry. HFF, together with its affiliates, offers clients a fully integrated capital markets platform, including debt placement, investment advisory, equity placement, funds marketing, M&A and corporate advisory, loan sales and loan servicing. HFF, HFF Real Estate Limited, HFF Securities L.P. and HFF Securities Limited are owned by HFF, Inc. (NYSE: HF). For more information, please visit hfflp.com or follow HFF on Twitter @HFF.

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HFFMICHAEL KAVANAU, 44-020 7509 6700HFF Senior Managing [e-mail] DAUBENEY, 44-020 7509 6700HFF Managing [e-mail] MURPHY, [phone]HFF Director, Public [e-mail] TURBUTT-DAY, 44-020 3047 2370Associate [e-mail]