City Office Building Sold for £18.3m

Helical Bar PLC 3 February 2000 HELICAL SELLS CITY OFFICE BUILDING FOR £18.3 MILLION AND REINVESTS £7 MILLION IN A NEW REFURBISHMENT OPPORTUNITY Helical Bar, the property investment and development group, today announces the disposal of Aldermary House, Queen Street, London EC4 to Frogmore Investments Limited for £18.3 million in cash. Aldermary House, which is within the Bow Lane Conservation Area, is held on two leases from the Mercers' Company, each having approximately 82 years unexpired at a combined fixed rental of £10,600 per annum. The property comprises approximately 42,000 sq. ft. of multi-let offices with a further 3,800 sq. ft. of retail and 5,500 sq. ft. of storage. The building produces a current income of £1.210 million per annum which is projected to rise later this year on completion of pending rent reviews. All occupational leases expire or have break clauses operative by the end of 2003. The transaction shows a net initial yield of 6.3% rising to approximately 7.2% on completion of the pending reviews. Helical acquired the property in 1994 and undertook a rolling refurbishment programme converting the ground floor offices to retail use. The letting strategy was to multi-let on flexible leases and during Helical's ownership rents doubled. Part of the proceeds have been recycled into the purchase of 48 Gracechurch Street, a highly prominent freehold property acquired for £7.05 million. The property was previously owner occupied by NPI and Helical plan a refurbishment with conversion of the ground floor into retail use. The retail space, which is planned to be circa 5,000 sq. ft., will be a few doors away from Marks & Spencer's new flagship City store and opposite the proposed department store at 68 King William Street. The offices of approximately 15,000 sq. ft. will be refurbished and a similar letting strategy adopted as was employed at Aldermary House. Michael Brown, Investment Director at Helical, commented: 'City retailing is an emerging market and is one of the few areas in the retail sector experiencing strong growth. Offices have always dominated in the City and as a consequence there is an acute shortage of prominent, well configured units suitable for flagship retailers'. Turning to the offices he said: 'At Aldermary House we were running 100% occupancy levels and are keen to repeat the formula at Gracechurch Street'. BH2 acted for Helical Bar on both transactions, Ingleby Trice Kennard acted for Frogmore and Richard Ellis St Quintin acted for NPI. For further information, please contact: Michael Brown Emma Denne Investment Director Financial Dynamics Helical Bar plc 0171 831 3113 0171 629 0113

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