London West End to get new retail space
London’s West End could be getting a new retail and office space, following the purchase of King Sloane Properties by Great Portland Estates for £70m.
The acquisition means Great Portland Estates (GPE), a FTSE 250 company, get access to the freehold interests at 16/19 Soho Square, 29.43 Oxford Street, 7 Falconberg Mews, from Belgravia & Chelsea Property Services Limited.
Worth around £70m, the deal means 57,456 sq ft mixed-use building, which are set to be vacant by March next year, can be transformed, with the 0.5 acre site having planning consent for demolition.
Plans would allow 90,000 square foot of new Grade A office and prime retail space in the heart of the capital.
Located in the West End, the new space at the eastern end of Oxford Street back on to Soho Square and are just a stone’s throw from the new Tottenham Court Road Elizabeth Line station.
GPE said it looks to re-work the designs and improve the quality of the space, making it more attractive to any businesses who want to take it up.
It would include arranged over basement, lower ground, ground and eight upper floors, with multiple private terraces and a communal roof terrace.
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.”
