The building in question is 20 St James’s Street in the central London district of St James’s SW1, which was substantially redeveloped during the 1980s and was formerly owned by IVG UK Limited.
View examples of offices in St James’s here
A total of nine organisations are currently occupying the building, which delivers gross annual rents of roughly £2.39 million and is believed to have close to 7,000 sq ft of vacant office space available.
Great Portland Estates has noted that there are a number of leases set to expire on the property in 2015 and that several deals have breaks in two years’ time, which it is convinced will offer an opportunity for the building to undergo a period of concerted refurbishment.
“We are delighted to have acquired 20 St James’s Street,” said the real estate firm’s chief executive Toby Courtauld.
“It is in a prime St James’s location, let off low average rents for the area and offers immediate asset management opportunities with a fuller refurbishment prospect in the medium term,” he added.
Typical rents paid by current tenants at the SW1 site are “only £55 per sq ft”, Great Portland has indicated, which it will be aiming to see an increase as its plans for the London office space building take shape.
Earlier this month, a report from Cushman and Wakefield suggested that most corporate professionals operating in London are optimistic about their prospects for 2012, which the commercial property analyst suggests should be good news for office builders planning schemes across the capital.
Editor’s notes: St James’s is a prime location in London’s West End and, in 2022, prime rents in the West End hit £130 per square foot per year.
Higher rental rates have been achieved in St James’s though – in 2017, fashion tycoon and father of Formula 1 racing driver, Lawrence Stroll, agreed on a deal to rent 4,000 square feet of office space at 5 James’s Square at a level that represented a price per square foot of £190.
The space taken is managed by premium office space provider Ocubis.