The iconic "Gherkin" building in London was today sold for a record £600 million (€907 million) in a deal thought to be the most ever paid for an office property in Britain.
The iconic 'Gherkin' - the Swiss Re building in London. Photo: PA Wire
Insurance group Swiss Re sold the 41-storey office block, officially known as 30 St Mary Axe, to German real estate group IVG Immobilien just three years after it opened.
The Gherkin's sale price is more than double the building's estimated cost of construction and overtakes the £520 million sale last year of CityPoint in London to become the most paid for a single building in Britain.
Swiss Re is reportedly making up to £250 million on the sale and will remain as a tenant in the building, which can command up to £65 per square foot in rental income.
The Gherkin was designed by Lord Norman Foster, the architect behind the new Wembley Stadium and the Millennium Bridge in London.
He has won awards for the design of the landmark skyscraper, but the building has experienced some teething troubles since opening in late 2003.
A window fell out in 2005 after a fault in the automatic opening system, forcing owner Swiss Re to seal all the windows as a temporary safety measures.
Thousands of the panels of glass also had to be replaced after the appearance of cracks. New owners IVG and Evans Randall are not planning any changes to the building or its use.
PA