London-listed Great Portland Estates has agreed to sell a 50% interest in The 100 Bishopsgate development project to the Brookfield Properties Corporation for £42.97 mln (EUR 48 mln) on completion. The joint venture holds all of GPE's Bishopsgate properties which form the 100 Bishopsgate development site in the heart of the City of London.

London-listed Great Portland Estates has agreed to sell a 50% interest in The 100 Bishopsgate development project to the Brookfield Properties Corporation for £42.97 mln (EUR 48 mln) on completion. The joint venture holds all of GPE's Bishopsgate properties which form the 100 Bishopsgate development site in the heart of the City of London.

New York and Toronto-listed BPO is a commercial real estate corporation that owns, develops, and operates core assets in the downtown areas of high-growth North American cities. Its portfolio includes the World Financial Center in New York, Brookfield Place in Toronto, Bankers Hall in Calgary and Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles.

Planning consent was received by GPE in May 2008 for a 40-storey building at the 0.8-hectare Bishopsgate site, providing 71,510-m2 of offices, ancillary retail and a new public library, together with a second building of 4,500 m2 containing offices and a new Livery Hall for The Worshipful Company of Leathersellers.

The partnership is a 50:50 joint venture between GPE and BPO with all income and expenditure being shared equally. The acquisition price for BPO's 50% stake implies a valuation for the whole of £85.95 mln, equating to CB Richard Ellis' 31 March 2010 valuation. The current net rental income receivable is £7.4 mln per annum.

The partnership intends to prepare the scheme for a potential start date in 2011/12, subject to a variety of partner approvals. BPO will act as development manager to the partnership and has also entered a pre-construction services agreement to act as the main contractor for the development. GPE will continue to act as both property and asset manager.