Well I’m confused. The Irish Independent reports today that NAMA “looks set to secure about €17m” from the sale of a 1.5 acre parcel of land near to Waterloo rail station in south London (pictured here). The Independent says the property is expected to sell to close to its asking price of GBP 17m – maybe NAMA is going to “net” part of the sale price, maybe the Independent has mixed up its currencies between sterling and euros. The Independent doesn’t name the developer but does say that the sale has been managed by British property consultants, Edward Symmons acting as receivers, and the sale is to a hotel development and management company, Shiva Hotels (other news sources claim the purchaser is a consortium which comprises Rising Star and Shiva). Of course in the UK, they have administrators, not receivers, but that’s possibly splitting hairs.
What’s confusing is I can’t find any record of the property on the Edward Symmons website, which shows property for sale. Even if the property sale has just completed, I would still expect to see a record for it, perhaps with an “under offer” or “sale complete” sign.
The 1.5 acre site has planning permission to develop a 300-bedroom hotel which is expected to operate under the budget Hampton by Hilton hotel brand. The site is presently occupied by a derelict office building, called Partnership House. CB Richard Ellis were offering a 0.55 acre site for sale at 157-183 Waterloo Road but it is not clear when the brochure was dated and if it is current, though the Independent today makes reference to CBRE as the “property’s agents” – I could not find any record of this property on the CBRE UK website.
So for the moment, the developer remains a mystery, NAMA’s involvement is a bit of a mystery and the €17m is a mystery also. But possibly of most concern is that a property in which NAMA is said to have an interest and which has sold doesn’t appear to be offered for sale by the firms associated with the property.
UPDATE 30th March, 2011: The building was owned by developers CPSL Limited before that company was placed in administration in 2009 with property consultants Edward Symmons being appointed Law of Property Act (LPA) administrators then. The loan securing the building was from Anglo Irish Bank and presumably on that basis was absorbed into NAMA . The site finally obtained planning permission for redevelopment as an hotel in 2009 from Lambeth Council in London, having had a previous application in 2008 rejected. Former residents of the building include the Church Mission Society which had occupied part of the building since 1966 and was responsible for the motto carved into the front annex of the building on Waterloo Road : “Go forth to every part of the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” – seems like NAMA is doing just that!
NAMA Wine Lake 