Castleforge and Conversant Capital have announced a partnership to invest in Central London office real estate.
The partnership has an initial commitment of £150 million (A$306.6 million) from Conversant, and is designed to invest in assets with a total value of more than £1 billion in the long run.
Both parties are real estate investment firms, with Castleforge based in London, and Conversant Capital from New Jersey in the U.S.
The fund has already recently closed on a £90 million recapitalization of 55 Mark Lane, a multi-let office in the City of London's EC3 insurance district, with Castleforge will serve as lender, asset manager, and development manager.
Secondary interest was also acquired on Castleforge's flagship office redevelopment, 75 London Wall, a space coming in at just under a massive 500,000 square feet.
"Our partnership with Castleforge reflects our conviction in London's office market and in our collective ability to identify and unlock value," said Michael Simanovsky, Managing Partner of Conversant Capital.
“We believe the current dislocation in the sector presents an exceptional opportunity, where limited new supply and rising demand create the conditions for outsized risk-adjusted returns.”
The sentiment was echoed by Michael Kovacs, Founding partner at Castleforge, who said he was “excited to be working with Michael and his team” and that the two organisations “think very similarly about investing.”
