GPE Sells Fitzrovia Headquarters Building: The London Deal Sheet
The Deal Sheet is a weekly compilation of Greater London and beyond's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email mark.faithfull@bisnow.com.
Great Portland Estates has exchanged on the sale of Wells&More, W1 to Feldberg Capital on behalf of Fastighets AB Balder for £172M.
At a 5% net initial yield and £1,483 per SF, the price sits marginally ahead of the September 2025 book value and around 5% ahead of March 2025, GPE said. The freehold property occupies a corner position on Wells Street and Mortimer Street in Fitzrovia.
Developed by GPE in 2009 and substantially refreshed in 2022, Wells&More is a headquarters building comprising 116K SF of Grade A office, retail and medical space across lower ground, ground and five upper floors. It has private terraces at the fourth and fifth floors and courtyards at both lower ground and ground floors.
Tenants include Heineken, Airwallex and Brown Forman Beverages, and it generates annual rent of around £9.2M, with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 5.5 years to expiry.
“The combination of attractive entry yields, significant day-one rental reversion of typically 20-30%, and the potential for further rental growth of more than 25% over the medium term creates a compelling risk-adjusted investment case," David Turner, chief investment officer at Feldberg Capital, said in a statement. "With many of the leading research houses now forecasting an inward yield shift over the next five years, the outlook for investors is becoming increasingly positive.”
LEASING
BP is to move its global headquarters to a new development on London’s South Bank after it agreed a 192K SF lease at the Timber Square office scheme at Bankside with developer Landsec.
The letting covers the entire 15-storey Ink building and accounts for 54% of the overall development, which completes in March.
The move is expected to be completed by early 2028, and the new offices will also house technical and engineering staff currently based in its Sunbury campus in Surrey. BP currently has its official global HQ on St James’s Square, but many of its technical teams are based in Sunbury.
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Retailer Currys is almost tripling the size of its headquarters at WeWork’s flagship 10 York Road location in Waterloo.
The expansion will see Currys grow from an almost 7K SF workspace to an 18K SF workspace as the company continues with its hybrid working model.
FINANCE
LondonMetric Property has refinanced £1.5B of unsecured term loans and revolving credit facilities. The two new facilities, £1.3B syndicated and £200M bilateral, replace nearly all of the company's existing unsecured facilities that mature over the next four years.
The refinancing will deliver an expected annualised cash saving of circa £6M and has diversified its lender base with two new lenders added to the eight existing.
Following LondonMetric’s December 2025 public bond issue and alongside other recent debt activity, this refinancing increases its average debt maturity to 4.4 years compared with 4.2 years as at 30 September 2025, with £186M of debt expiring over the next two years.
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Funds advised by Aureon Partners and Caisson iO have launched a UK multilet industrial property investment platform, seeded with £36M of acquisitions in Weston-super-Mare and Leeds.
The platform will target assets located in key regional UK conurbations, and Aureon and Caisson iO said they intend to grow the portfolio to a gross asset value of £300M during the next 12-18 months.
In Weston-super-Mare, the platform has acquired Weston Industrial Estate, which comprises 303K SF across 64 units, let to 50 tenants. The vendor was Legal & General.
In Leeds, the platform has acquired Metro Park, a self-contained 52K SF industrial estate located 2 miles south of Leeds city centre.
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A joint venture between urban regeneration specialist Ballymore and Central European investor and developer Penta Real Estate has secured a £180M loan facility from Barclays and Homes England to support delivery of the Cuba Street development adjacent to Canary Wharf.
The financing enables the progression of the residential scheme, with a 52-storey tower that will deliver 434 homes, including a mix of private and affordable housing. Amenities will include a gym on the 32nd floor, communal spaces and a new public park.
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ME Asset Management has launched a specialist real estate investment platform targeting income-producing assets, combining "capital, specialist expertise and execution capability," the company said.
The launch follows ME Asset Management’s first transaction, the acquisition of a 132-key Premier Inn hotel on the Swansea waterfront through its subsidiary ME Swansea, the platform’s acquisition vehicle.
The firm is also reviewing a pipeline of similar opportunities across the UK, particularly assets where remediation requirements or regulatory complexity have constrained traditional financing, the company added.
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Investec Bank has provided a £22M committed loan facility to Greenridge Opportunities Fund, a vehicle sponsored by Greenridge Investment Management, to finance the acquisition and rolling refurbishment of the 100K SF 3 Temple Quay office building in Bristol.
Greenridge initially acquired the asset with equity, and, post-acquisition, Investec was approached to provide funding. The subsequent 48-month facility comprises a initial tranche alongside a capital expenditure tranche to fund a phased refurbishment programme, the companies said.
The refurbishment will deliver upgrades to mechanical and electrical systems, office floor plates and communal areas.
DEVELOPMENT
U.S.-based student accommodation specialist Landmark Properties has received the green light for a significant redevelopment at 120 Suffolk Street, adjacent to the mixed-use Mailbox, in Birmingham city centre.
Birmingham City Council approved Landmark Properties’ proposals to build 504 student beds in a purpose-built student accommodation development, which will also include communal and outdoor spaces.
Landmark Properties has over 74,000 student beds under active management across the world and entered the UK market in 2024, completing its first land acquisition in 2025 in central London.
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A former petrol station and derelict industrial site is to be converted into a 941-bed purpose-built student accommodation scheme, combined with 200 affordable homes, shops and new neighbourhood amenities.
Approved by Southwark Council in 2024, the project is now set to move forward following completion of a deal between Arada London, Shaw Corp. and L&G.
The ground floor will include a grocery store, café and student amenities on the Old Kent Road, while the 200 affordable homes have been acquired by L&G’s Affordable Homes division.
The development is targeting BREEAM Excellent through design, construction and operation, plus WELL Platinum certification.
PEOPLE
Mark Capital Management has appointed Claire Haddon as its new head of asset management for its urban logistics strategy, Crossbay.
Haddon has joined from Oxenwood Real Estate, a pan-European logistics specialist. There, she was responsible for overseeing a diverse pan-European portfolio. Previously, Haddon was a director at Ciel Capital, a boutique asset and investment manager specialising in hotels, and M7 Real Estate.
Rodney Hunt was recently appointed UK vice president at Crossbay, with Nnes Ajukwu appointed as a senior associate in the client solutions team at Mark Capital Management.
