British Land splashes £210m on Paddington Central site ahead of Crossrail arrival
British Land has snapped up a site in Paddington where Crossrail is set to push up property and rental prices in a £210m deal.
The property giant, which already owns part of the massive Paddington Central scheme, has bought One Sheldon Square, a 200,000 sq ft, nine-storey office building, currently home to Visa Europe, from a Malaysian pension fund.
British Land stands to make £9.5m a year from rental income – that's £48.70 per sq ft. A rent review is due in 2017.
"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," said British Land's head of offices, Tim Roberts.
The site brings British Land's stake in the area to 800,000 sq ft – including four of the seven buildings in the Paddington Central scheme. The developer is building a 146,000 sq ft site at 4 Kingdom Street and has consent to build at a 210,000 sq ft site at 5 Kingdom Street.
The arrival of Crossrail in 2018 is expected to push up prices in the areas where it's being built by as much as 60 per cent.