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Great Portland Estates has forked out £91.5 mln (€106 mln) in London in two transactions with UK REIT Land Securities.

In the first deal, GPE has exchanged contracts to acquire the Oxford House freehold property adjoining its existing Rathbone Place redevelopment site in London's West End.

Simultaneously, GPE and Land Securities have entered into new rights of light and rights of way arrangements between GPE’s development directly opposite Oxford House and Land Securities’ adjoining property at 7 Soho Square.

The price for the individual transactions was not given.

Oxford House is an 11-storey, office and retail building totalling 79,000 sq ft (7,340 m2). It is fully let with an average unexpired lease term of under a year. The asset generates a total current rent of £3.22 mln per annum and a net initial yield of 3.5%, which GPE hopes to increase to 6% post a light refurbishment and re-letting.

The asset has a planning application in place to convert the upper floors to 89 private residential apartments and the first floor to retail areas. The proposed scheme totals 114,700 sq ft.

GPE is already active in the regeneration of the east end of Oxford Street through its ownership of three sites with the potential for more than 600,000 sq ft of new, mixed-use space.

'Oxford House is an important West End asset to add to our medium term development pipeline,' commented Toby Courtauld, GPE Chief Executive.

He added: 'Longer term, redevelopment will contribute towards the regeneration of the East End of Oxford Street, one of London's most exciting submarkets and one which is set to benefit from the opening of Crossrail.'