Hammerson sells London building to Kuwait for $271 million

British property group Hammerson has sold a property in London's financial district to the real estate arm of Kuwait for 176 million pounds ($271 million), one of a string of buildings for sale in the area.

The 214,200 square feet property at 60 Threadneelde Street is on the site previously occupied by the London Stock Exchange and represents a yield of 4.75 percent for the buyer, St Martins Property Investments, Hammerson said on Thursday.

Hammerson completed the nine-storey office development in January 2009 at a cost of 124 million pounds.

More than five billion pounds of property is on the market in the City and Canary Wharf financial districts, as sellers look to cash in on an appetite among overseas buyers for the relative safety of top quality London real estate.

Uncertainty over whether a steady rise in prices for the best assets may be nearing the end as a result of the euro zone sovereign debt crisis and the bleak global economic outlook is prompting some owners to sell now.

Other buildings on the market include Peterborough Court, the London home of Goldman Sachs, a Canary Wharf block housing Credit Suisse and a one billion pound portfolio of four properties being sold by German fund Kanam that includes Deutsche Bank's London home.

Hammerson is targeting an April 2012 start date for a 485 million pound scheme in central London despite only agreeing to let a third of the building, chief executive David Atkins told Reuters last month.