Great Portland Estates has bought the Soho Square estate, W1, for £70m.
GPE has taken over control of the freeholds of 16-19 Soho Square, 29-43 Oxford Street and 7 Falconberg Mews through the acquisition of King Sloane Properties, which owns the freehold interests.
The 57,456 sq ft mixed-use buildings, at the eastern End of Oxford Street, are currently multi-let at circa £1.48m pa, with vacant possession expected by March 2024.
Alexa Baden-Powell, senior investment manager, said: “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.”
The 0.5-acre site has planning consent to demolish the existing buildings and deliver around 90,000 sq ft of grade-A office and prime retail space.
GPE intends to rework the designs to provide a best-in-class HQ office building on Soho Square with flagship retail fronting Oxford Street, arranged over basement, lower ground, ground and eight upper floors, with multiple private terraces and a communal roof terrace.
King Sloane Properties was sold by Belgravia & Chelsea Property Services.
The cash consideration is based on a property value of £70m, or £772 per sq ft on consented NIA, and is subject to further balance sheet adjustments.
GPE has settled the bill from its existing undrawn facilities and cash.
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