Dublin duo acquire central London office for €252m

Vico Capital, the investment vehicle of Dublin solicitor Brian O'Donnell and Dr Mary Patricia O'Donnell, has acquired an office property in central London for £170 million (€252 million), it was announced yesterday.

The husband and wife duo purchased Sanctuary Buildings on Great Smith Street in London SW1 in an off-market transaction from Sallarin, a joint venture company of DCD London & Mutual and TAIB Bank.

It is understood that the yield on the investment is 5.2 per cent and that the rent on the building is highly reversionary.

Sanctuary Buildings is located within five minutes' walk of the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey in the Westminster/ Victoria area of London. It is a modern office headquarters building with a classical facade. It has an area of approximately 227,000sq ft.

The entire building is let on a long lease to the British government as the headquarters of the Secretary of State for Education and Skills.

Brian O'Donnell, the chairman of Vico Capital, is a former managing partner at solicitors William Fry and is now chairman of Brian O'Donnell & Partners, a Dublin-based corporate law firm.

Vico Capital's investment strategy is to acquire on behalf of itself and other private investors investment-grade office buildings with strong institutional tenants located in London, parts of Europe and the US.

The company owns two buildings in Canary Wharf: 15 Westferry Circus and 17 Columbus Courtyard.

Both buildings are long-let investments. The former address, which comprises 175,000sq ft, is let entirely to Morgan Stanley and was purchased in May 2005 for £140 million.

Vico Capital beat off several other wealthy bidders to buy the 200,000sq ft Columbus Courtyard property in September of last year for a price tag of £125 million.