Robert Noel has sold a prime 3.3-acre Strand development site as he gets set to take the helm of the UK’s largest property company next week.
Land Securities this week exchanged contracts to sell Arundel Great Court, WC2, for £234m to Amanda Staveley’s Waterway PCP Properties.
The site, which has planning for 147 private flats, a hotel and a 398,000 sq ft office building, was held in LandSec’s book at between £100m and £200m, according to its interim results.
The sale follows the REIT’s £250m disposal of Park House in a Staveley-fronted deal in 2010, six months after Noel joined the firm. It points to a renewed focus on its core development pipeline.
Noel, who currently leads the £5.7bn London business but replaces outgoing chief executive Francis Salway on Monday, is expected to concentrate on the firm’s holdings in Victoria as well as its City pipeline, which includes its 525ft 20 Fenchurch Street tower.
One source said: “It makes sense that Rob, coming from Great Portland Estates, will focus on the core London pipeline. He will be judged on what he delivers in the City and the offices and residential in Victoria.”
Commenting on the Arundel Great Court deal, Noel said: “We have always been clear that we would not take forward every opportunity in our development pipeline.
“With a good range of other schemes in construction and planned in London, particularly in the West End, we have to make choices on the right allocation of resources and capital.”
He added that “with better opportunities elsewhere in the portfolio, we have decided to release value from the site” rather than develop it.
Commentators also expect Noel to introduce more retail warehouse development into its £4.8bn retail division. This would add higher-yielding stock, which provides long-term income, in effect balancing out its development activity.
Its portfolio currently comprises 12% retail warehouses, which compares with rival British Land’s 31%.
