Great Portland Estates buys West End freeholds for £70m

(Sharecast News) - Great Portland Estates announced the purchase of King Sloane Properties on Friday, which itself owns the freehold of multiple addresses including 16/19 Soho Square, 29/43 Oxford Street, and 7 Falconberg Mews, W1. The FTSE 250 company said the significant acquisition from Belgravia & Chelsea Property Services was for a cash consideration based on a property valuation of £70m, equating to around £772 per square foot on a consented net internal area basis.

It said the transaction was also expected to undergo further balance sheet adjustments.

The acquired estate encompassed 57,456 square feet of mixed-use buildings, with multiple tenants and an annual rent income nearing £1.48m.

However, GPE said it expected the properties to be vacant by March next year.

It said the 0.5-acre site had planning permission allowing for the demolition of existing structures to pave the way for around 90,000 square feet of brand new Grade A office space and prime retail quarters.

"This acquisition represents a fantastic opportunity for us to develop a strategic West End freehold site into a best-in-class headquarters building with excellent sustainability credentials," said GPE's senior investment manager, Alexa Baden-Powell.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.