Green Property sells London development to China for £90m

Irish developer Green Property has agreed to sell its One Nine Elms development in London to China-based Dalian Wanda Group for £90 million (€105 million) in an off-market sale, The Irish Times has learned.

This deal will benefit AIB, which sold One Nine Elms to Green in 2008 as part of a portfolio of assets in a £650 million deal. AIB retained a carried interest in the development and will benefit from the uplift in the value of the site since the deal with Green was agreed.

Details of the uplift for AIB have not been disclosed but it emerged in court in London last year that the bank was entitled to 30 per cent of any future profit made on the assets by Green.

The portfolio was accumulated by businessman Achilleas Kallakis, who was accused of fraud and money laundering in relation to loans secured from AIB to acquire the sites.

One Nine Elms is a proposed mixed-used development comprising 1.13 million sq ft of prime residential, commercial and retail space in central London. It will comprise two towers of 45 and 60 storeys respectively.

The development will be taller than the London Eye, The Gherkin building and the BT Tower. It will also be the tallest residential building in London.

On completion, the development is expected to have a value of £700 million.

Green Property secured planning permission for the scheme from the London Borough of Wandsworth.

Dalian Wanda is China’s largest commercial property and entertainment conglomerate. It plans to establish a five-star hotel at the site. This will be the first time that the Wanda hotel brand has been used overseas.

The deal was announced earlier today in China.

Stephen Vernon, Green Property’s chairman, said One Nine Elms was “arguably the most exciting regeneration project in Europe” and said Dalian Wanda would bring it to its “next and final stage”.

Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda said the site was an “exciting chance” for the company to be part of the transformation of London.

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, described it as a "cracking deal" and "another sign of the soaring global confidence in London".

Green, which owns the Blanchardstown Town Centre in Dublin, was advised by estate agent CBRE on the transaction.

Green has also been active with other assets acquired from AIB. It sold Lunar and Apollo House in Croydon for £78 million after new 13-year leases were agreed with the UK Government. It has also started the development of 8 St James's Square in central London into a 65,000 sq ft office building due for completion next March.