RNS Number : 6107L
Great Portland Estates PLC
11 November 2024
 

 

 

11 November 2024

 

GPE acquires West End refurbishment opportunity

 

Great Portland Estates plc (GPE) is delighted to announce the acquisition of the special purpose company holding the long leasehold interest of Whittington House, WC1 for a total consideration of £58.5 million (£785 per sq ft on current NIA), subject to further balance sheet adjustment post completion. The building is currently let on a short-term basis, at an annual rent of c.£5.2 million with vacant possession expected in Q1 2025.

 

Located in the heart of the West End, close to the Tottenham Court Road Elizabeth Line station, the 74,500 sq ft HQ building provides GPE with an exciting opportunity to create outstanding office spaces that draw upon its iconic Richard Seifert & Partners design, delivering eight floors of sustainable offices with market leading amenity, fronting on to the newly pedestrianised Alfred Place. The repositioned building will be delivered in Q1 2027 coinciding with a potentially historic level of undersupply of such space.

 

Whittington House sits adjacent to GPE's existing holdings at 31/34 Alfred Place and opposite the recently acquired Courtyard, WC1, thereby adding to a growing cluster of buildings that will provide GPE customers with a choice of spaces and amenity in this vibrant location.

 

Alexa Baden-Powell, Senior Investment Manager, said, "Whittington House is our first HQ acquisition following our rights issue in May and meets all of our acquisition criteria. At a significant discount to replacement cost, the building has angles to exploit and our refurbishment will deliver high quality, sustainable space into a market that is increasingly starved of such supply. Together with the recent purchase of 19/23 Wells Street, we have invested £77.5 million into new West End acquisitions in the last month, or £110 million including the capex we intend to invest in both buildings, and our pipeline of further opportunities remains strong.''

 

 

Great Portland Estates plc

+44

(0)

20

7647

 3000

Toby Courtauld, Chief Executive






Nick Sanderson, Chief Financial & Operating Officer






Stephen Burrows, Director of Financial Reporting & IR

Yasemin Kiani, Communications Lead

 

 












FGS Global






James Murgatroyd                                                                                   

+44

(0)

20

7251

3801

Gordon Simpson                                                                                                






 

For further information see www.gpe.co.uk or follow us on X at @GPE_London

LEI Number: 213800JMEDD2Q4N1MC42

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
 
END
 
 
ACQUPGBWGUPCGBR