Great Portland Estates Sells Prime Asset – Rathbone Square

Great Portland Estates (GPE) has sold its prime, mixed-use development, Rathbone Square (located at Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia, W1 in London), for £435m. The asset has been sold to Rathbone Place Jersey Ltd – which is owned by Germany’s WestInvest Gesellschaft Für Investmentfonds and Deka Immobilien Investment – at a yield of 4.25%.

The scheme comprises 242,800 sq ft of office space, 25,200 sq ft of retail space and 142 residential flats, and is due to complete in April 2017. The scheme totals 419,700 sq ft, which is GPE’s largest development to date and has been a huge success – shareholders can expect to see part of the £110m profit in the form of special dividends.

Eugene O’Sullivan, Surveyor and Director at Morgan Pryce, says: “Most of the residential flats were sold in the summer of 2014. Pre-letting schemes is a great way of releasing capital early and cashing in on a strong market if you are concerned with market forecast, especially for a development of this scale that is nearing completion three years on.”

Thus far, 139 of the 142 flats have been sold, and 13,900 sq ft of retail space has been let. The entirety of the office space has been let to Facebook, on a 15-year lease with no breaks, at an initial rent of £73.31 per sq ft (£17.8m per annum), they were also incentivised to make the move with 30 months rent-free.

This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.