The 10 Biggest Offices Opening In London In 2019
The striking thing about the biggest offices opening in London in 2019 is how well they have let.
In spite of Brexit and the stuttering UK economy, the biggest office buildings being built in London are filling up fast.
Around 60% of space in the 10 biggest buildings opening this year is already leased, according to Deloitte. And for all the London office schemes opening in 2019 that Deloitte is tracking, the figure is 47%.
Here is the lowdown on the biggest schemes opening this year.
A bit over 30% of AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets’ innovative TwentyTwo scheme is spoken for, with news at the end of 2018 that Convene is set to take around 75K SF of the building for its first UK site. Overall around 350K SF of the 1.15M SF of office space has been leased. It is scheduled to complete in Q3.
Just next door, Brookfield has steadily leased up its own monster City skyscraper to tenants including Royal Bank of Canada, Jefferies and Freshfields. It is about 78% pre-let, with around 200K SF of the 904K SF tower, opening in Q2, not yet leased.
Also known as Goldman Sachs’ new London HQ, the 850K SF Midtown building will be occupied by the bank in its entirety. Korea’s National Pension Service bought it in a £1.2B sale-and-leaseback deal.
Société Générale is taking 260K SF (almost 38%) of Canary Wharf’s 690K SF development, with other tenants currently circling. The building is scheduled for completion in Q2.
The shopping centre is a huge success, and in Q3 the office element of Westfield’s Stratford scheme is set to complete, too. The 592K SF 14 Westfield Ave., anchored by HMRC, has just 40K SF remaining to be let.
It was a sign of how far the barriers have been broken down between the West End and the City when ad agency McCann took 148K SF at British Land and GIC’s 135 Bishopsgate scheme — once upon a time an ad agency would not have been caught dead that far east. There is 19K SF remaining to be leased at the 285K SF building. The refurbishment will complete in Q2.
There is 139K SF still to lease at Derwent London’s 238K SF Brunel Building in Paddington, which is scheduled for completion in Q1. Sony is the main tenant so far.
Tenants are getting much savvier these days. In 2016, Anglo American's owner-occupied Midtown HQ was on the block for £148M. Last year it took a new 25-year lease on the 172K SF building and sold it to M&G for £265M. M&G is now refurbishing the building, which will house Anglo American's De Beers diamond business. The refurb is set to complete in Q4.
Trilogy real estate is looking to create a new office destination with its Republic scheme in Poplar. The 165K SF second building is set for completion in Q2, with 98K SF still to lease. Current tenants signed up include Sungard.
Schroders and Stanhope are set to complete their new scheme in the Tech City area near Old Street in Q3, with the entire 125K SF scheme currently up for grabs.
