British Land is at the head of the table of London’s commercial property developers, clinking solar-panelled glasses and patting itself on the back for a job well done as it welcomes the first tenant to its Leadenhall Building in the City of London.
US insurance giant Aon Corporation has signed a deal, to take 191,000 sq ft of the 610,000 sq ft commercial property, comprising ten floors, with an option to take a further 85,000 sq ft over another four levels.
The 47-storey building, nicknamed the Cheesegrater, is a joint-venture for British Land and its partner Oxford Properties, one of the largest North American real estate firms.
The size of the commercial property portion is seen as a chunky vote of confidence in the estimated £286m construction, with Aon extolling the virtues of London ‘as a strategically important and integral part of Aon’s future’. Chris Grigg, British Land’s CEO spoke of a ‘high level of interest being shown by major occupiers’ in the Cheesegrater, whose ascent was initially delayed due to economic concerns in 2008. Now restarted, the 224m high project is scheduled for completion in 2014.
A tapered glass façade, designed to emphasise its vertical appearance, and a 30m high atrium, open to the public, is included in the design of this stunning building. Floor spaces range from 21,000 sq ft at lower levels down to 6,000 sq ft at the top, boasting the flexibility that is expected to appeal to a range of occupiers.
British Land has shown a hunger for development, aiming to deliver a reported 2.2m sq ft of commercial property over the next three years across the City and West End. On the menu is the UBS building in Broadgate and the 500,000 sq ft NEQ building in the West End.
Formal contracts are expected to be chewed over and digested by the end of the year.
Previous Post
Who Are Serviced Offices For?
