GPOR.L Share News (GPOR)

(ShareCast News) - Great Portland Estates announced on Friday that it had exchanged contracts to sell Mortimer House in London's Fitzrovia for £26.95m.The FTSE 250 firm said the office property, with 23,800 square feet of net internal area, is currently vacant and benefits from consent from a triple B1/A1/A3 use on the ground and basement floors.It said the buyer is a new vehicle established by hotelier Guy Ivesha, in joint venture with Cain Hoy and other private investors.The buyer plans to operate a "premium work and lifestyle concept" with a strong emphasis on hospitality.Hugh Morgan, Head of Investment Management at GPE said "we had the necessary consents in place to undertake a comprehensive refurbishment of Mortimer House in a supply constrained West End occupational market."However, as a consequence of strong demand for vacant refurbishment opportunities, it made sense to sell Mortimer House now and invest the proceeds for higher returns in our exceptional development programme."