New owners for landmark building in £23.9m deal

Canada Life bought No.1 St Paul's Place, which is home to law firm DLA Piper's Sheffield office, from UK fund manager Standard Life Investment.

The building is located within Sheffield's Heart of the City development and includes in excess of 88,000 sq ft of commercial accommodation over ground and six upper floors.

The ground floor is multi-let to Cafe Rouge, Cafe Nero and Piccolinos, with the upper office floors let on a single lease to DLA Piper UK. Barclays and RBS currently sub-let part of the second and the first floors respectively.

The building, which was built in 2005, is situated close to the Millennium Galleries, Peace and Winter Gardens.

DTZ acted for Canada Life on the acquisition of the property and Standard Life was advised by Savills.

Shailendra Shah, fund manager at Canada Life, said: "This acquisition fits in with our current strategy of buying defensive assets in prime locations that are well let to excellent tenants."

James Lawlor, senior surveyor in DTZ's Investment team in Leeds, added: "We are delighted to have advised Canada Life on this acquisition. The quality of the location, property, tenant line-up and surrounding public realm sets this asset apart from the rest of the Sheffield office market."

The sale is one of the largest of its kind in the last 12 months. In February 2010, London & Stamford Property sold No 1 Whitehall Riverside in Leeds for 51.3m to NFU Mutual Insurance Society.

In July, Gatehouse bought BT's regional headquarters at One Sovereign Street in Leeds for 40m from UK fund manager La Salle on behalf of Royal Mail Pension Fund.