Reports suggest that the West End of London Property Unit Trust (Welput) has put Stratton House for sale, located on Stratton Street in Mayfair, in one of the city’s most exclusive and expensive locations.
It is unclear how the process will impact Manchester United’s operations in London, but the club’s employees could yet relocate again, having only moved to offices in Stratton House in 2011.
Before taking up the 11,500 sqft of Grade A office space at Welput’s building opposite Green Park, the club’s London-based staff worked out of space on the nearby Pall Mall, another highly exclusive office location.
Welput, operated by the international fund management business Shroders, acquired Stratton House for just over £80 million in 2005. Expectations are that there will be no shortage of parties interested in buying the property over the next few months, the London Evening Standard reports.
“This is prime freehold, it’s brand new and it has all the attributes to appeal to any overseas buyer,” one source told the London newspaper.
Manchester United has long been one of the most internationally active and well-supported football clubs in the world. In 2011, the club’s bosses made clear their intention to float part of their business on the Singapore stock exchange, a move expected to raise several hundred million pounds.
For its part, Schroders is based out of offices in the City of London and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority. It managed assets worth a whopping £182.2 billion at the end of September 2011.
Editor’s notes: In March 2023, it was announced that Manchester United was moving from its home since 2011, Stratton House in Mayfair, to a new London HQ in Kensington.
The team signed a 10-year lease to rent the entire top floor of The Kensington Building, which provides 16,000 square feet of space and a 7,414 square-foot roof terrace.