London’s “Can of Ham” Office Sells in $460M Deal

Nuveen struck a roughly $460 million deal to sell one of London’s most recognizable office towers in what could be the capital’s biggest single-building office trade in three years.

Capreon, the real estate arm of the Noé family, partnered with Hayfin Capital Management to acquire the 300,000-square-foot building at 70 St Mary Axe, Bisnow reported. The deal breaks down to $1,533 per square foot and eclipses the $447 million price Blackstone had agreed to earlier this year before Nuveen pulled out, betting the market would firm up.

That bet appears to have paid off. Investors are circling London’s best-leased towers, particularly buildings that locked in tenants during the last leasing cycle as landlords anticipate rent growth.

Completed in 2019, the property dubbed the Can of Ham is fully occupied by 13 tenants, according to Green Street, which first reported the sale. Average rent is roughly $92 per square foot.

With little new office supply coming online in London, rents have spiked — Grade B space is pushing $102 per foot, according to data from Devono. That scarcity, paired with institutional capital looking for inflation-protected returns, has made assets like the Can of Ham increasingly attractive despite uncertainty over long-term office demand.

For Capreon, it’s the firm’s second London office buy in a year, following its purchase last year of 132 Goswell Road in Farringdon.

For Hayfin, better known for credit investments and opportunistic bets in distressed housing, the move marks a step into mainstream London offices. The firm joins other alt-credit giants like Elliott and Ares that are venturing into the sector as a source of higher yields.

The sale also signals momentum returning to the city’s trophy office market, hamstrung since 2021 by rising rates and questions around post-pandemic demand.

Last month, Hines agreed to buy the Worship Square office building at 65 Clifton Street for approximately $248.7 million. The deal for the 140,000-square-foot property breaks down to more than $1,775 per square foot.

— Holden Walter-Warner