Reuters – British Land has sold a 50 percent stake in City of London office complex Broadgate to Blackstone in a deal crafted to thrust the UK real estate firm to the front of the chase for UK property bargains.

The private equity giant has paid just 77 million pounds ($127.5 million) for the half stake in Broadgate, one of London’s biggest office landmarks.

It will also take on half its 1.97 billion pounds debt pile, freeing up British Land to mount a much speculated buying spree as a two-year property slump nears an end.

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Tags: blackstone, real estate firm

Greenwich Time – Some hedge funds in the region are looking to sublease their office space as they downsize or shut down in the lagging economy.

John Goodkind, managing principal of Greenwich-based commercial real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank, said about 20 percent of Greenwich hedge funds are considering subleasing all or some of their office space to cut their expenses. He said he expected about half of them to do so in the next six to nine months.

"It’s the immediate wave of the future because the Greenwich hedge fund market is not immune from a meltdown," Goodkind said, adding that space is being offered at 20 percent to 30 percent less than the original lease. "Fairfield County, with Greenwich being the nexus, is in for a very difficult period of time for tenants that are subleasing space."

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Tags: commercial-real-estate, difficult-period, economy, fairfield county, goodkind, greenwich time, meltdown, newmark knight frank, nexus, nine-months, office space, period of time, real estate firm, sublease, wave of the future