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Blackstone enters growing
Serviced Office arena with
purchase of interest in TOG
Blackstone acquired the majority
interest of The Office Group (TOG) for
approximately £500m. TOG currently
has a portfolio of 36 centres, focused
on London and this investment into
the company is to assist expansion
against a background of increasing
demand and scale in the sector. 2017
YTD has seen over 1.4m sq ft leased
to the sector, which already surpasses
the previous annual record of 1.28m
sq ft back in 2014.
The trend for investors to enter the
sector has been building momentum
over the last few months. British Land
launched its Storey concept, aimed
at companies employing between 20
and 70 people who have outgrown
co-working space which will be based
in their existing portfolio. While
another private equity company,
Carlyle, has purchased three office
buildings to operate as flexible spaces
under the Uncommon brand name,
which will cater for 1300 desks. Fora,
backed by Brockton Capital, has also
increased its portfolio to ten in the
last 12 months, scheduled to open
between now and 2019.
The new Bloomberg London
headquarters has been identified as
the world’s most sustainable office
building, achieving an ‘Outstanding’
BREEAM sustainability rating, with
a 98.5% score. This is the highest
design-stage score ever achieved by
any major office development. The
building delivers a 73% savings in
water consumption and a 35% savings
in energy consumption compared to a
typical office building.
A number of innovative sustainable
design features, such as integrated
ceiling panels, natural ventilation,
combined heat and power and smart
airflow, have been incorporated into
the building’s design.
The development’s interiors encourage
active working, with sit-to-stand
work stations for all employees and a
central ramp spanning six floors that
encourages movement through the
building on foot. The omission of an
in-house canteen serving lunch means
employees, in the words of Michael
Bloomberg, ‘get out and enjoy the
local economy’.
The company recently unveiled the
names of seven restaurants that will
be at the heart of the development’s
restaurant quarter. The ‘Bloomberg
Arcade’ will eventually comprise of
ten independent restaurants, open
seven days a week offering a diverse
selection of cuisines in a move away
from national chains.
The office building provides 1.1m
sq ft and opened in October 2017.
The continuing renaissance of
the Aldgate and Whitechapel
submarket has been boosted by the
imminent arrival of a new centre
for photography. Fotografiska,
which runs the world-renowned
photography museum in Stockholm,
has pre-let the entire Phase two of
Derwent London’s The White Chapel
Building, 10 Whitechapel High Street,
E1 to house a new London Museum of
Photography. The 89,000 sq ft lower
ground space and pavilion space is
due for completion in 2018, and will
bring a vibrant cultural focus to the
once overlooked area.
Phase one of the redevelopment
created a new public entrance and
atrium, including a cafe and bar, and
was fully let earlier this year to clients
such as the Government Digital
Service, Wilmington, Perkins+Will,
Unruly, Reddie & Grose, Shipowners’
Club, ComeOn! and Lebara.
Boost to cultural
regeneration inWhitechapel
Quintain announced two new
joint ventures to enhance the
redevelopment of Wembley Park.
Network Homes and Quintain
have joined forces to provide 252
affordable homes in the area. This
follows the completion of the Alto,
Quintain’s third Build-to-Rent building
and Vivo, a collection of affordable
apartments managed by Network
Homes. With planning permission
already secured for 7,000 homes,
5,000 of these will be available for
rent, which will see Wembley Park
become the largest Build-to-Rent
development in the UK.
Quintain has also joined forces with
Boxpark to open Boxpark Wembley
that will provide a pop up dining and
event destination at the heart of the
scheme. It will include street food
and bars, with the aim of bringing 29
independent and established food
traders onto Olympic (Wembley)
Way and provide year round space
for events. This is the third BoxPark in
London, following on from Shoreditch
and Croydon, and is scheduled to open
in 2018.
Deutsche Bank has taken a pre-let
for a new headquarter building at
Landsec’s 21 Moorfields development.
The bank has a minimum commitment
to 469,000 sq ft, but also has an
option to expand later to take up to
a maximum of 564,000 sq ft. The
scheme will benefit from its proximity
to both Moorgate and Liverpool
Street stations following the opening
of the Elizabeth line. The German
bank has taken a 25-year lease,
subject to planning permission, which
is a strong sign of its commitment
to London and the UK, despite the
current Brexit uncertainty.
In fact, despite Brexit, the 2017 Z/
Yen global financial centres index,
released in September, shows that
London extended its lead over its
nearest rival, New York to remain the
number one global financial services
centre. Overall assessments for
the European centres continued to
fluctuate as people speculate about
which centres might benefit from
London leaving the EU, with Frankfurt,
Dublin, Paris and Amsterdam all rising
up the global rankings.
Banks long term
commitment to London
London at
a Glance
Quintain kicks off JV
partnerships at Wembley Park
New Bloomberg HQ opens
By Christopher
Wilton,
Graduate Surveyor,
London Capital
Markets
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
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