The Times | February 2023
Andrew Barclay, a grandson of the late Sir David Barclay, is targeting small and medium-sized office buildings that need work done to bring them in line with the government’s forthcoming changes to energy-efficiency standards. His plan is simple: buy dilapidated buildings on the cheap, refurbish them and improve their sustainability credentials, and then let them out at premium rents to tenants. Office agents nationwide have reported a surge in demand for best-in-class space. JLL, the property agent, said last month that occupiers were now happy to pay a “clear premium” for green offices.
Rents for offices with any Breeam (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) rating, which range from “pass” to “outstanding”, typically are 11.6 per cent higher than for similar buildings without one, JLL’s data showed. Barclay, 31, is targeting “outstanding” or “excellent” ratings for his buildings.
His Dashwood Properties company acquired its first building at the end of last year — a four-storey office block in King’s Cross, central London, for which he is reported to have paid £18.7 million. Half of the block, Thirty Lighterman, had been revamped by the old owner, meaning that Barclay and his team have only two floors to bring up to date. The plan is to use it to prove to his backers, who include overseas property investors and a boutique private bank, that the business model works.
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