Acquisition

Great Portland Estates PLC
09 July 2004


GPE buys into South Bank regeneration for £18.7 million

9 July 2004

Great Portland Estates plc ('GPE') has acquired a development site and two
adjoining investment properties in Southwark, London SE1, where it plans to
develop at least 120,000 sq ft of Grade A offices. In four separate
transactions, totaling £18.725 million, GPE has purchased;

• an investment property at 156/164 Tooley Street;
• the freehold interest of a site immediately to the rear;
• the leasehold interest of the same site; and
• an adjacent investment property at 14-20 Shand Street.

The properties at Tooley Street (25,000 sq ft) and Shand Street (22,500 sq ft)
were acquired for £12.075 million from Asda Property Holdings and generate
rental income of £755,000 per annum, which is expected to rise to £900,000 by
the end of 2004. The reversionary rental value is estimated to be approximately
£1 million per annum.

The development site, acquired from Arlington Group plc (an AIM listed company),
extends to approximately 1 acre and is directly opposite the new 3 million sq ft
More London development. GPE intends to demolish the existing 27,000 sq ft of
vacant 1950's warehouse property in order to develop at least 120,000 sq ft net
of modern, prominently located offices.

The company expects to submit a planning application in the near future, with
completion of the new buildings anticipated during 2007.

Toby Courtauld, Chief Executive, said 'We have quietly assembled this site in
order to become involved in the regeneration of this part of central London.
Tooley Street and the South Bank have already benefited from improvements to the
transport infrastructure and corporate acceptability of the location and we
believe this positive trend is set to continue. We will be delivering high
quality, well located offices, offering good value into a strengthening market.'


Contacts:

Toby Courtauld, Chief Executive
Great Portland Estates plc            020 7612 1442

Robert Noel, Property Director
Great Portland Estates plc            020 7612 1443

Edward Orlebar
Finsbury                              020 7251 3801

Notes for editors

The site is situated immediately south of More London (www.morelondon.com), a 3
million sq ft phased development where, amongst others, Ernst & Young have
located their new 385,000 sq ft UK headquarters and solicitors Norton Rose have
announced they are in exclusive negotiations to take a new headquarters building
of 340,000 sq ft. The surrounding area has improved significantly over the last
few years with the opening of the Jubilee Line extension and the development of
City Hall including the surrounding landscaping works.

The investment properties mentioned in the release are central to the
development of the site. 156/164 Tooley Street forms the frontage whilst 14/20
Shand Street has been acquired as it held a potential right to light position
over the proposed development scheme. In addition, it stands to benefit
significantly, both in terms of rental growth and valuation, as a result of the
development proposals.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange