CBRE Investment Management, on behalf of CBRE UK Property PAIF, has acquired Exchange Place One, the Grade A office building on Semple Street and Fountainbridge in Edinburgh’s financial quarter from a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management.

Four floors of the building are occupied by asset management giant Blackrock with other occupiers including and pensions and benefits consultant Hymans Robertson.

The property comprises 114,748 sq ft of office space spread over ground and five upper floors, a basement car park and one ancillary retail unit.

Exchange Place One is located in Edinburgh’s Exchange quarter, popular with financial services businesses.

“Currently, the Edinburgh office market dynamics are highly favourable, with the Grade A city-centre vacancy rate at just 2.2%, reflecting a constrained supply and strong demand for high-quality office accommodation,” said CBRE.

Jamie Phillips, Fund Manager of the CBRE UK Property PAIF at CBRE Investment Management, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to acquire a Grade A office building in a fantastic location.

“Edinburgh is a vibrant city and its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site places certain constraint on future commercial development within the city.

“This is in part underpinning the undersupply of Grade A stock, which is at its lowest levels for 20 years.

“Exchange Place One has impressive floor plates, which can be hard to come by in Edinburgh.

“Our business plan is focused on taking the building to the next level, creating a top-quality office building that gives Edinburgh’s corporate occupiers a sense of place and the strong sustainability credentials that tenants are quite rightly demanding.”

Christian Goebel, Co-Head of Macquarie Asset Management’s Real Estate team in Europe, said: “We are pleased to be able to pass the baton at Exchange Place One after successfully delivering our business plan for this landmark building on behalf of our investors.

“Exchange Place One has been a great addition to our portfolio, and we look forward to transacting further assets in the United Kingdom in the pursuit of our ambitious growth plans in the real estate sector”