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Chinese property giant in £140m London office purchase

China Overseas Land and Investment (COLI), one of China’s biggest developers, is to purchase the Helicon Building in the City of London for £140m, according to Property Week.

The Hong Kong-listed property developer is poised to snap up the 130,000 sq ft building from Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management (Deutsche AWM), who purchased the property in 2004 for £100m.

Any potential deal would be the second City of London office purchase by a Chinese investor this year after Poly Real Estate Group landed 5 Fleet Place for £145m.

Built in 1996 and situated at the northern end of Moorgate at 1 South Place on Finsbury Pavement, the building is currently occupied by the likes of Experian, RBBS and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

The building, which was designed by architecture firm Sheppard Robson, includes 119,000 sq ft of office space and has retail spaces which are currently occupied by Marks and Spencer and HSBC.