London calling for Qatar

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I hear Qatar's eyeing an investment in Europe's tallest building?
Yes that's the one. Who's behind the consortium?

The consortium consists of four members; QInvest, a newly established Islamic investment bank from Qatar, Qatar National Bank, Qatari Islamic Bank and Barwa from Qatar. Each member will own a 20% stake in the newly formed London Bridge Quarter Holdings Ltd. It's the first time that a Qatari consortium has joined together to invest in a project on the international market, to the tune of US$3.88bn.

Wow, that's a lot of money considering the real estate market isn't exactly booming at the moment.

Yes, you are right. Everyone is feeling the effects of the current US credit crunch and the UK market is no exception. The consortium deal has been dogged by financial problems since the crisis began last year but the news is certainly a boost to the UK's commercial property market.

Just last week the UK's biggest land developer, Land Securities, helped further secure the market by announcing good profits from recent building sales, planned to take advantage of the downturn to snap up distressed assets. Its share price immediately jumped 8%.

The sale of two of London's prime Canary Wharf office blocks last spring further boosted the industry.

So tell me more about the project.

The development, which includes the Shard of Glass, so named because of its design, is positioned in the redevelopment of New London Bridge House, which will be renamed London Bridge Place.

The 18-storey building will be mixed-used including a public viewing gallery at the very top. QInvest's CEO, Abdul Latif Almeer, has already described the development, as "Europe's most recognisable commercial property landmark".

Two major pre-lets have already been signed; Shangri-La Hotels will occupy almost 200,000 sq ft of space and Transport for London (TfL) are contracted to occupy 190,000 sq ft of office accommodation. The project is due for completion at the end of 2011.

This isn't the first large Qatari real estate investment in London though, is it?

No, you're right it isn't. The most significant investment is from HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the foreign minister of Qatar who is the key financier behind the ambitious US$10.5bn One Hyde Park scheme.

The residential development, which is housed on the site of the old 1950s office block Bowater House, boasts some of the capital's most expensive apartments. The financier himself recently bought a penthouse overlooking the park for an impressive US$206.9m.

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