Great Portland Estates plc (“GPE”) has agreed to surrender all seven leases held by Telewest UK Limited (“Telewest”) at 160 Great Portland Street, W1, in return for total consideration of £30 million.
The payment is equivalent to 6.3 years of the annual rent of £4.74 million per annum, with 7.5 years remaining until expiry of the leases in June 2018. The occupier will undertake a phased vacation of the building between January and May 2011. GPE will carry out a major upgrade of the existing building which consists of 86,000 sq. ft. from lower ground to the sixth floor, to provide high quality Grade A office space available for letting in mid 2012. Overall, the surrender transaction and refurbishment scheme are expected to improve the performance prospects of this property.
"This deal unlocks a first class refurbishment opportunity from within our existing portfolio. We have a good working relationship with our occupiers and have worked closely with Telewest to find a mutually beneficial solution for the building. For GPE, this allows us to deliver a completely repositioned building with an excellent floorplate into a West End leasing market which we believe will be short of supply in mid 2012."
