LONDON (Alliance News) - Property investor Great Portland Estates PLC said Friday it has sold office property Mortimer House, Mortimer Street in London for GBP27.0 million to a new vehicle set up by hotelier Guy Ivensha.
Great Portland said the office property, which has a net internal area of around 23,800 square feet is currently vacant and benefits from a B1/A1/A3 use on the ground and basement floors. These are planning use classes and mean the property can be used for the retail sale of goods as well for the sale of food or drink for consumption on the premises, and for office use.
Great Portland said its buyer is a vehicle which was set up by PPHE Hotel Group Ltd Vice President of Business Development Guy Ivesha, in joint venture with private investment company Cain Hoy Enterprises LLC and other private investors.
Great Portland said the vehicle plans to operate a premium work and lifestyle concept on the site with a strong emphasis on hospitality.
"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," said Great Portland Head of Investment Management Hugh Morgan.
Shares in Great Portland were down 0.8% at 763.50 pence on Friday morning.
By Hannah Boland; hannahboland@alliancenews.com; @Hannaheboland
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