L&G acquires Leeds office in £211m deal set to create "tens of thousands of jobs"

Insurance giant Legal & General (L&G) has bought a government-led office scheme in Leeds in a £211m deal.

The insurance firm has bought the scheme from Hermes Investment Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in a deal said to be the largest investment deal in the city.

Henrie Westlake, head of investment at the Leeds office of global property consultancy Knight Frank that advised L&G on the deal, commented: “L&G has directly invested around £1.1bn into Leeds in recent years through major urban regeneration projects and the delivery of housing, social care and infrastructure.

“Despite being one of the UK’s major financial and business service hubs, Leeds has an extremely low supply of Grade A office space. With the city benefitting from the largest growing workforce outside London, this development will help to meet this growing demand by providing much-needed top quality office space to the region.”

Legal & General Retirement will forward-fund the 377,730 sq ft project at 7-8 Wellington Place, which is being developed by Oxfordshire-based MEPC, and is currently let to HMRC and NHS Digital.

The buildings are part of Leeds business development Wellington Place, which when completed will comprise a total of 1.5 million sq ft of commercial, retail, leisure and residential space.

This latest deal by L&G marks the insurance specialist’s tenth government hub in the centre of Leeds.

Gordon Aitchison, director of investment and development at LGIM Real Assets said: “Representing Legal & General’s 10th Government Hub, these investments are a perfect match for our UK pension commitments, providing high-quality long-term investments while also aiding vital regional regeneration.

“As the second largest financial hub outside of London, with a strong and growing workforce, our investment in Leeds will have a meaningful impact on the region, providing quality office space and creating tens of thousands of jobs.”

Chris Taylor, head of private markets at Hermes Investment Management, added: “This deal is a testament to the significant success that has been achieved in establishing a sustainable investment community at Wellington Place in Leeds through our joint venture investment and with MEPC as our development manager partner.

“It will enable us to capitalise on this holistic approach to urban regeneration predicated upon great placemaking, by releasing funds for more development on site, overseen by MEPC.”