Fund managers Schroder has still not said what it intends to do with a south-west London film and television studio it acquired in a £35m off-market deal from property investment company Helical Bar.
Originally built in the 1970s as British Telecom warehouse, the Silverthorne Road property was converted to a broadcasting centre by a Middle Eastern television company and relaunched as Battersea Studios. In 2005 Helical paid £8m for vacant possession of the site before starting an extensive refit.
The company refurbished the property into 56,848sq ft of offices space, a café and a number of fully equipped TV studios. Once the main building was fully let, Helical added a new five-storey, 51,194sq ft office complex on part of the car park. The complete studio site, which now totals 108,042sq ft produces an annual passing rent of £1.47m, equating to £21.50 per sq ft.
“Following our acquisition of Battersea Studios as an empty property nine years ago, we successfully repositioned it into multi-let offices and TV studios aimed at tenants in the media and creative industries,” said Helicla Bar director, Jack Pitman.
“Having completed our remodelling of the property, we are happy to take advantage of the current strong investment market in London to sell this asset.” The profit, he added, would be invested in new acquisitions both in London and beyond.
Battersea Studios has a history as a production centre, but is also used by a range of media production companies and photographers as a location for projects ranging from photographic shoots and pop promos to television commercials and dramas. The striking exterior of Battersea One, the main studio building, and views across the Thames from Battersea Two have featured in a number of film and television productions.
James Lass is fund manager with Schroders and he expressed his satisfaction with the acquisition. “We are delighted to have completed this off-market transaction,” he said. “We have had considerable success over the years investing in fringe London office markets such as Southwark and Old Street ahead of the curve and capturing above market rental growth and returns.
“As these locations have matured and rents have grown considerably our strategy has shifted to focus on the areas of London we believe will witness the next wave of growth. With the infrastructure improvements underway in Battersea, along with low base rents the asset is very well placed to capture the growing occupier demand we are seeing,” said Lass.
In February Schroders teamed up with developer Stanhope to present a speculative proposal for a 236,000sq ft office scheme at Ruskin Square to the London Borough of Croydon’s strategic planning committee. The partnership was last year granted consent for the first phase of the project, which includes a 22-storey residential building of more than 160 flats.
The proposals would be the first phase of the Ruskin Square Masterplan. It was granted outline planning permission in 2011 and sets out Schroder and Stanhope’s vision for a mixed-use redevelopment of the nine-acre site to provide 550 homes as well as one-million square feet of office and retail space.
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