Commercial property specialist London & Associated Properties plc has sold two of its sites in a bid to focus on its retail operations.

Commercial property specialist London & Associated Properties plc has sold two of its sites in a bid to focus on its retail operations.

The company has exchanged contracts to sell one of its properties in London and simultaneously completed the sale of a site in Yorkshire. These deals could earn at least £16.5 million for the company.

London & Associated has agreed to sell Chenil House, a retail and office building on Kings Road, to a private property company for £15 million in cash.

The final price of the deal could rise if the purchaser secures planning permission for the property. The last published valuation of Chenil House, as at 31 December 2006, was £13.6 million.

The company has also sold a small shopping parade, which includes adjacent land, in Bradford for £1.5 million. Its last published valuation was £1.1 million.

“Although we had looked to gain planning consent and develop Chenil House ourselves, we believe that our core competence lies within retail property and were therefore happy to accept an attractive offer,” London & Associated chief executive John Heller said.

“This frees management time to focus on adding to the acquisitions in the retail sector already made this year,” he added. “At the same time, Bradford no longer fitted within our portfolio.”

These other deals have included January’s £8.7 million acquisition of a 54,000 sq ft retail outlet in Chesterfield.