Greycoat bought the site from MEPC earlier this year, following MEPC's decision to focus on business park development. Preliminary works have already begun on the Lombard Street site and the project is scheduled for completion in Spring 2003. Prior to the sale, MEPC had secured planning permission for a nine-storey development, including three basement levels, on the site of a former Post office and branch of Coutts private bank.
CGI's decision to back the project marks a new vote of confidence in London. The German open-ended funds, which had been a dominant force in the market through the 1990s, have reduced their exposure to the UK in the face of declining inflows of funds from their retail investors.
The exchange rate risk between sterling and the euro has become an added disincentive for German investors in the UK, when compared with other strong European markets, primarily Paris.
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