St Martins Property Group is a leading property development, investment and asset management company based in the United Kingdom representing the real estate interests of the State of Kuwait with their headquarters in London Bridge City, London. Their flagship projects are the London Bridge City, an office area and Cheapside, a residential new-build. St Martins Property Group has operations in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Australia.
The Company was incorporated in February 1924 as The St Martins-Le-Grand Property Company Limited to carry on the business of property investment.
The company started to expand after the war years and in 1947 it merged with the Cheapside Land Development Company Limited which owned a number of London office properties. The Company then acquired Porkellis Property & General Investment Trust Limited in 1954, further expanding the portfolio of office investments.
Rapid growth was to follow after 1956, with the acquisition of a number of property companies including London & Northern Properties Limited, introducing significant portfolios of investment properties and development sites. It was during this period that the name of the Company was changed to St Martins Property Corporation Limited.
In addition to growth by acquisition, the company embarked on an extensive programme of property development and during the 1960s and 70's many schemes were completed including King's Mall Shopping Centre at Hammersmith, which was later sold in 2011.
During the 1980s the company expanded its portfolio with the completion of major office, retail and warehousing schemes including London Bridge City, Windmill Hill Business Park in Swindon, the Drummond Centre in Croydon, Monument Mall Newcastle, Cathedral Lanes Coventry, Fieldhead Business Centre Bradford and Elliots Field Retail Park at Rugby. All properties except for London Bridge City and the Windmill Hill Business Park were disposed off during 2011.
The company is currently undergoing a restructuring, selling and having sold smaller, older non-core properties and non-office stock in the UK and in Continental Europe, whilst pursuing sizeable (£100m+)quality investment opportunities in Central London first of all, and subsequently also in the largest cities in developed markets.
Globally, St Martins owns close to 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) of commercial property across Europe, in Turkey, Australia and in Japan.In Australia, St Martins own 50% of the iconic Rialto Tower in Melbourne, a landmark 250 metre-high building comprising two towers of 56 and 43 floors, providing 83,500 sq m of prime office space. St Martins has also historically had various holdings in Perth.
In September 2006, St Martins acquired the 101-unit Plejada shopping centre in Sosnowiec, Poland, which was then extended and reconfigured.
In March 2007 St Martins completed the purchase of Europe's largest shopping centre, Cevahir Mall, in Istanbul. Cevahir has seen strong growth in foot fall.
St Martins acquired a new-build office building at 51 Lime Street in the City of London in June 2008. This building was later renamed the Willis Building as it is the UK head quarters of insurers The Willis Group. The Willis building is one of the City’s most iconic developments. Designed by architect Norman Foster, the Willis Building is located in the centre of the City opposite the Lloyd’s building. It is one of the tallest buildings in the City, with 45,615 sq m of space on 29 floors, together with a 10-storey building on 25 Fenchurch Avenue. It is let on a long-lease, typical of the kind of investment stock St Martins is looking to acquire.
The most recent sizeable purchase was the 27-storey luxury residential tower Lietocourt Arx Tower in Minato, Chuo-Ku, adjacent to Nihonbashi and Ginza, Tokyo's well-established business and retail district. This 281-apartment building in Japan was acquired in February 2009, and is more than 95% let.
St Martins' diverse UK assets include the prestigious London Bridge City development beside the River Thames, which contains over 93,000 m2 (1,000,000 sq ft) of office, retail, leisure and residential accommodation. The company owns a significant amount of property in the City of London. The last successfully completed development was the 19,000 m2 (200,000 sq ft) landmark office building at 150 Cheapside, adjacent to St Paul's Cathedral, and is now fully let. The property at 5 Cheapside, by the entrance to St Paul's underground station and located next to One New Change, is also up for redevelopment.