British Land has completed the acquisition of One Sheldon Square, Paddington Central, for £210 million from the Employees Provident Fund, Malaysia. This brings their total investment at Paddington Central to 800,000 sq ft with a further 146,000 sq ft currently under construction at 4 Kingdom Street and 210,000 sq ft of consented future development at 5 Kingdom Street.
The acquisition is in line with the strategy of expanding in London and the South East including in and around their existing assets. Acquiring One Sheldon Square, which is prominently located at the entrance to Paddington Central, allows them to develop a wider vision for the campus as an attractive mixed use destination.
One Sheldon Square comprises nearly 200,000 sq ft of freehold office space, arranged over nine floors. It is fully let to Visa Europe Services until December 2022 with a rent review in December 2017. Total annual contracted rent is £9.5 million reflecting an average rent of £48.70 per sq ft which is reversionary.
British Land is working with Hopkins Architects on a new Masterplan for Paddington Central. Phase 1 of a programme of public works improvements is already underway and they are on site at 4 Kingdom Street which will complete in 2017, ahead of the opening of the Crossrail station at Paddington in 2018. They are also progressing the concept design at 5 Kingdom Street in order to improve the existing consented scheme.
Tim Roberts, Head of Offices, British Land, said: “Paddington Central is full and we are progressing our vision to create a more attractive and engaging environment which better meets the changing needs of our customers. We have started on extensive improvement works to the public realm and are also now on site at 4 Kingdom Street. One Sheldon Square is a strategic piece of the campus which helps us to achieve our vision.”