Royal Mail is considering the redevelopment of a key sorting office it owns near Tottenham Court Road in central London.

The post service has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle to advise on the long-term potential for the site at Rathbone Place.

The decision has been prompted by radical improvements in the surrounding area.

Among these are the redevelopment of the nearby Tottenham Court Road Tube station as part of London’s east-west rail link, Crossrail, and Legal & General and the Mitsubishi Estate’s Central St Giles scheme.

Royal Mail’s real estate team, led by property director Martin Gafsen and former British Land and Stanhope director Eugene Doyle, has been examining how to unlock value from its 43m sq ft portfolio for some time, including through development.

The appointment of Jones Lang Lasalle is a sign that Royal Mail is acutely aware of its unique position as a significant owner of prime London sites — particularly as the market for development schemes begins to return.

As the site is still operational, and may remain so, any development would be at some time in the future. However, it is understood that Royal Mail wants to capitalise on the improvements to the area over the next few years.

The site has long been earmarked as a key potential development site in the packed West End.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone wanted to transform the site into a £700m convention centre. The London Development Agency’s Design for London body suggested it could become a public square.

There has been similar speculation about another Royal Mail site in London, the 7.5 acre Mount Pleasant sorting office in Farringdon.

In 2005, architect John McAslan & Partners was appointed to draw up plans for a 1.1m sq ft mixed-use scheme, next to a new depot, on the site, but the plans were never progressed.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman declined to comment on any plans for the management of its estate.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s appointment at Rathbone Place is also a big win for the firm’s West End development team.

It is also understood to be advising Royal Mail on its vacant sorting office near Paddington railway station, where Stanhope was recently appointed in an advisory capacity.

The vacant site houses a 250,000 sq ft Victorian sorting office.

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