Nabarro advises Great Portland Estates on £435m sale of Rathbone Square, London

This article was produced by Nabarro LLP, which joined CMS on 1 May 2017.

A Nabarro team has advised Great Portland Estates on its £435m sale of Rathbone Square, 35/50 Rathbone Place off Oxford Street in London’s West End. The development has been bought by Rathbone Place Jersey Limited, an entity owned by WestInvest Gesellschaft Für Investmentfonds mbH and Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH.

The 419,700 sq ft mixed use development is currently under construction with phased completion expected from late March 2017. The 242,800 sq ft of office space is pre-let to Facebook on a 15-year lease at an initial annual rent of £17.8m. More than half the retail space is under offer and 139 of the 142 private residential units have already been exchanged for sale.

Leading the Nabarro team was Real Estate partner Caroline Maude. She was assisted by Real Estate partner Cheryl Gurnham, Tax partner Phil Anderson, Infrastructure, Construction & Energy partner Alistair McGregor and Funds & Indirect Assets partner Chris Luck.

Toby Courtauld, chief executive of GPE, said, “Rathbone Square is our largest ever development scheme and this sale continues our successful strategy of recycling capital out of assets where we have created significant value. Having purchased the site in late 2011, obtained an attractive planning permission and commenced construction in early 2014, we pre-sold the vast majority of the residential units in summer 2014 and secured one of the largest ever lettings in the West End a year later.

Commenting on the sale, Caroline Maude said: “It’s very satisfying to be able to support longstanding client, Great Portland Estates in meeting their business objectives. This deal offers a good return on their investment and allows them financial flexibility as market uncertainty continues.”