£300m in ‘war chests’

Jul 18 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

Developer Paul Houghton of Downing _158

LIVERPOOL’S two biggest owners of office space are to continue their acquisition sprees after unveiling “war chests” with a combined total of almost £300m.

The city’s biggest commercial landlord, Downing, has told the Daily Post it is on the look-out for more properties just a year after acquiring the former Royal & SunAlliance headquarters – now called the Capital – in a record £51m deal.

The company has £140m to spend after completing the sale of its student accommodation. Manchester rival Bruntwood is also looking to splash the cash just weeks after spending around £20m on the 185,000 sq ft Cotton Exchange complex in Liverpool’s Old Hall Street.

It has built up its own war chest, totalling £150m, which it intends to use to double the size of its Merseyside portfolio.

Both firms already control almost 2m sq ft of office space in the city centre and across Merseyside.

Three years ago, Bruntwood acquired the former Littlewoods headquarters, in Old Hall Street, for £24.5m and is spending tens of millions of pounds refurbishing it. Downing is also spending millions upgrading the space at the Capital to standards it claims exceed those found at brand new office buildings. Its other properties include the Port of Liverpool Building and No 1 Old Hall Street.

Development director Paul Houghton (pictured) said: “Downing is hungry for new investments and we will continue on the acquisition trail. We have just raised £140m through the sale of our student accommodation.

“If and when any of Liverpool’s prominent buildings come up for sale we will be a bidder, but don’t look at everything that comes onto the market – it has to be of the right quality.”

Bruntwood’s regional director in Liverpool, David Guest, said that in the next five years the company aimed to double its portfolio in the Liverpool city region and Cheshire.

RISE OF THE TWO PROPERTY GIANTS: PAGES 8-9

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