The former abrdn office in Aberdeen’s West End is up for sale at £1.275 million.
Prince Arthur House was vacated by abrdn earlier this year when it made a decision to shut its Granite City office and ask all 90 staff to work from home.
Martin Gilbert, George Scott and Ronnie Scott Brown launched Aberdeen Asset management (now abrdn) in 1983 and went on to make the financial services giant a global name.
The 9-10 Queen’s Terrace building has been renovated and re-let to engineering consultants Apollo on a 10-year lease.
Queen’s Terrace office investment opportunity
It is being marketed by CBRE as an office investment with the building taking in £135,000 in rent per year.
The category B listed building is made up of three floors and had been home to abrdn for 40 years.
CBRE said it has been extensively refurbished to provide open plan offices of the highest quality with “magnificent period features” throughout.
The selling agent also said the building lies in an “extremely prominent location” in the west end of Aberdeen city centre, with office space totalling 8,440 sq. ft.
It has been confirmed the lower ground floor, home to No. 10 Bar and Restaurant, is not affected.
The brochure states: “The lower ground floor and two rear parking spaces are under
separate ownership and does not form part of this sale.”
Dominic Millar, CBRE chartered surveyor, said: “As one of the most recognisable assets in the west end, CBRE is pleased to bring Prince Arthur House office investment to the market.
“9 & 10 Queen’s Terrace provides high quality office and open plan accommodation that has been refurbished to ensure that the traditional craftsmanship and character of the building is retained.
“Investors are being presented with an exceptional opportunity to acquire a high-profile office in the city at an attractive yield, with reversion potential at a later date given the relatively low passing rent.”
5,000 strong Abrdn global workforce
The company’s vowel-light name is a nod to its Granite City roots – it was formed in 2017 through the £3.8 billion takeover of AAM by Edinburgh firm Standard Life.
At the time of announcing the closure of its Aberdeen office, abrdn said it was targeting an annualised cost reduction of at least £150 million by the end of 2025.
Mr Gilbert described it a “sad day for the business”.
London-listed abrdn employs about 5,000 people globally, including around 2,200 in Scotland.
As of the end of last year, the Edinburgh-headquartered company’s assets under management and administration (AUMA) totalled £494.9 billion after net “outflows” of £12.4 billion.
This was down slightly from £495.7bn at the end of June.
The group’s investments arm “continued to face structural headwinds”, with high inflation and geopolitical uncertainty impacting client portfolios.
Conversation