Canada Israel, controlled by Barak Rosen and Assaf Tuchmeir (their private company, not to be confused with public company Israel Canada) has done its first deal in the UK. The company has purchased an office tower in the north-west London suburb of Wembley which it intends to convert to a residential tower at a total investment of £100 million. Canada Israel is paying £45 million for the property, and plans to build under an existing permit ("Permitted Development Rights") 440 small apartments (averaging 40 square meters) for an additional £55 million. Canada Israel plans to sell the apartments - studio and two-room apartments, for which there is high demand - for an average of about £300,000, and expects total sales proceeds of £130-150 million, Globes reports.
The existing office tower, with 20,000 square meters of built space, was bought as part of a 2.5 acre site for which Canada Israel plans to obtain residential planning rights to build 30,000 square meters. The property is adjacent to the Stonebridge Park Underground station, about twenty minutes journey time from central London, and is within walking distance of Wembley Stadium.
Another Israeli real estate company, Alony Hetz Property and Investments Ltd. (TASE: ALHE), recently announced plans to invest together with partners, in stages, £340 million in the purchase, development, enhancement, construction, management and maintenance of income producing real estate in the UK, mainly in London.
The company explained that the aim was to exploit the fall in prices after the Brexit vote to buy commercial and residential income producing properties cheaply, and to benefit from a possible future rise in their value. Alony Hetz CEO and controlling shareholder Nathan Hetz said, "Brexit has created exceptional opportunities. We believe that the income producing real estate market in London will be attractive for investment in the coming years."