LJ Group expands Albert Square holdings
Family-owned office investor LJ Group has bought a fifth building in Albert Square, after acquiring a portfolio of four assets from Wrather & Co earlier this year.
1 Central Street in Albert Square was sold by Property Alliance Group for £7m.
LJ Group purchased four buildings from Bill Wrather for £16.3m in an off-market deal in June.
The four buildings were the 19,200 sq ft Victoria Buildings, the 28,700 sq ft Northern Assurance Buildings, the 18,500 sq ft 2 Mount Street and the 4,300 sq ft St Andrew’s Chambers.
The properties total 71,000 sq ft, with 44,000 sq ft of offices and a mix of retail and restaurant units on the ground floors.
Following the acquisition of 1 Central Street, LJ Group said it would create a 100,000 sq ft workspace across its Albert Square holdings, called the Albert Estate.
LJ was advised by OBI Property and Charles Russell Speechlys.
The office acquisitions are LJ Group’s first outside London. LJ Group is run by the Lawson Johnston family, heirs to Bovril and Marmite inventor John Lawson Johnston.
OBI will design, project manage and lease the multi-million pound refurbishment of the buildings, with JLL as joint agent and Knight Frank as managing agent.
