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Royal Mail sells Paddington site for £111 million

Royal Mail plc has disposed of its former Paddington mail centre site at London Street, W2 to Great Western Developments Limited for £111 million.

The one-acre site is adjacent to the Paddington main line railway station in central West London.

It is part of Royal Mail’s ‘London Development Portfolio’, which comprises surplus1 sites Royal Mail has identified for potential sale or redevelopment in London.

Royal Mail vacated the Paddington site in 2008 and operations relocated to Mount Pleasant.

Great Western Developments Limited is owned by Hotel Properties Limited, a listed Singaporean hotels and real estate company, which has a 70 per cent ultimate shareholding, and Anchorage View Pte Limited, which has a 30 per cent shareholding, both via a joint venture holding company.

In November 2012 Westminster City Council resolved to grant planning permission for Royal Mail’s mixed use scheme on the site.

The purchaser intends to seek further planning permission which, if granted, will require the purchaser to pay a further £20 million to Royal Mail Group Limited.

In addition, if the purchaser sells the site within two years of completion, it has agreed to pay Royal Mail Group Limited 50 per cent of any net sale proceeds above the £111 million purchase price if sold within the first year and 25 per cent if sold within the second year.

Martin Gafsen, group property director, Royal Mail said: “Royal Mail continues to seek to optimise value from sites no longer required for operational use and will consider all options as to the manner in which this is achieved.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .