Property agent CBRE appointed to seek equity partner
The owners of the stalled Pinnacle tower project have appointed property agent CBRE to search for a new equity partner to revive the mothballed scheme.
It is understood approximately £500m of equity will be sought, equating to a 50% stake, with the owners of the scheme drafting in CBRE to kickstart the search.
The scheme is majority-owned by SEDCO, a Saudi Arabian investment manager, with a Sharia-compliant fund managed by Pramerica also owning a stake.
The review of the 63-storey scheme’s financing is expected to take until September, with a deal unlikely to be struck before the end of the year.
Arab Investments and Brookfield Multiplex are expected to be kept on as joint development managers.
Brookfield Multiplex and architect KPF have been undertaking a value engineering review since the start of the year to try and reduce the scheme’s cost, after Brookfield Multiplex took on a “hybrid” contractor and project management role, beyond its £593m job as main contractor, following a legal dispute over unpaid fees.
But as Building revealed last month, the design review aimed at cutting the project’s £1bn cost has yet to be completed several months after it was expected to be unveiled, with the addition of a mooted residential element proving to be a key obstacle.
The Pinnacle scheme has been nicknamed “the stump”, after construction was abandoned at the ninth floor level a year and a half ago.
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