CAPITAL WATCH ISSUE 1 2018

many of the ex-industrial buildings that are scattered throughout the area. As well as being inexpensive, many of Shoreditch’s spaces have the advantage of being flexible and adapting to a range of uses. Early start-ups took advantage of short-term leases, even in buildings slated for development at a later date - such as the Transworld Office at 100 City Road, which housed Silicon Roundabout royalty including Moo Studios and Dopplr. The site is now home to the White Collar Factory. The White Collar Factory is not the only new office development in Shoreditch, as a total of nearly 1.3 million sq ft of newly built or refurbished stock was delivered since 2015. Interestingly, over 1 million sq ft of this space was pre-let before completion. Key schemes include Brookfield’s Principal Place, which was pre- let by Amazon; and Helical Bar’s refurbishment at The Warehouse, 211 Old Street, that was pre-let to tenants such as Stripe Payments, Pivotal and Farfetch. London College of Fashion launched, building on the creativity already present in Shoreditch 1974 First mention of “Silicon Roundabout” TfL and Islington Council invite designs for redevelopment of Old Street Roundabout Courtesy of Cove Burgess Architects, London 2008 2017 One potential downside to this continued redevelopment is the impact on prime office rents. Since 2008, prime Grade A rents have more than doubled in Shoreditch, which could see historically native creative tenants priced out of the area. This is compounded by a relatively constrained development pipeline, with future supply likely to add further upward pressure on rents. These fears were echoed in a recent report by Hackney Council, where respondents were concerned with the “increased rate and scale of commercial development seen in the area”. Some argued that the number of corporate occupiers arriving in Shoreditch has diluted the unique character for longer-term residents. In the same report, Hackney Council explores what Shoreditch might be like in 2033, and promotes the idea of a collective vision rather than piecemeal development. Respondents to the survey iterated that increased development of arts/ culture facilities, community projects and housing were Since 2008, prime Grade A rents have more than doubled in Shoreditch CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 37 PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE