Leading real estate investment manager, PRUPIM has bought a 30-year leasehold interest in the new UK Supreme Court on Parliament Square for a sum exceeding £30m on behalf of its Prudential Annuity Fund  from Kier Property.

 
The 70,000sq ft building, formerly the Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court, is grade II* listed and was recently the subject of extensive remodelling and refurbishment to prepare it for use as the new UK Supreme Court – which will be the pinnacle of the UK judicial system.

It was handed over to the Ministry of Justice in March 2009 for fitting out and will be opened by HM The Queen later this month. Kier Wallis undertook the refurbishment work on behalf of Kier Property.

The UK Supreme Court will be the first court in the UK to transmit proceedings live on television.

Steffan Francis, Director of Fund Management at PRUPIM, said: “While there is genuine excitement about the opening of the purpose-built UK Supreme Court building from a legal and architectural standpoint, we are delighted to acquire the leasehold interest in this fascinating and historic building from a financial perspective.”

“This type of acquisition reflects our strong appetite for these kind of long-lease bond-like properties with secure tenancies, which can deliver real value for our clients,” he added.
 

“Both this fund and the M&G Secured Property Income Fund are actively seeking further stock of this nature.”
 

Bushe Gower Associates acted for PRUPIM.

Kier Property director Andrew White commented: “This continues Kier’s unmatched track record of delivering high profile developments on time and budget through our integrated developer/contractor approach.  We are immensely proud to have been associated with this project which represents a major constitutional change for the United Kingdom.”