Great Portland Estates (GPE) has acquired the remaining 50 per cent stake in the Jermyn Street Estate that it doesn’t already own. The acquisition further increases GPE’s central London commercial property portfolio which is valued at £2 billion.
Jermyn Street has a long association with men’s tailoring and is best known for its shirts. It is home to luxury clothing brands such as Turnbull & Asser and the UK’s oldest cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield. GPE’s acquisition is a mixture of office and retail space, and the 62 tenants include Standard Chartered Bank and a branch of Starbucks.
The estate was previously part of a joint venture between GPE and Capital and Counties (Capco). But GPE has paid £60 million to assume full control of the assets which currently bring in a net rental income of £4.5 million.
Speaking about the sale, Ian Hawksworth of Capco said; “The sale of the Jermyn Street Estate releases capital back into the joint venture and allows our partners GPE to further expand their Piccadilly portfolio in light of their recent acquisition of French Railways House and 50 Jermyn Street.”
Mr Hawksworth went on to explain that the joint venture, the Great Capital Partnership (GCP), will consider further disposals on a case by case basis throughout the remainder of 2012.
GPE chief executive, Toby Courtauld, said he is delighted with the deal which, combined with the neighbouring acquisitions, provides the company with an additional 185,000 sq. ft. of prime commercial property space.
He concluded by saying; “In the longer term, the combined properties offer a superb development opportunity in one of the West End’s premier sub markets, with the potential to deliver material uplift in both quality and quantity of accommodation on the site.”
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