Helical and AshbyCapital, acting through a 50:50 joint venture, have acquired a major development site in the heart of Farringdon in London. The vendor is Nuveen Real Estate. Situated on the corner of Charterhouse Street and Farringdon Road, the site has existing planning consent for a building designed by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands for 192,000ft² of offices and ground floor retail. Demolition has already been undertaken and the site is vacant. Construction will commence later this year with completion anticipated early in 2022. The new building will benefit from floor plates of circa 20,000ft² and will be just 100 yards from Farringdon Station, a major transport interchange further enhanced with the advent of Crossrail. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Gerald Kaye, Chief Executive of Helical, commented: “We are big fans of the Farringdon area, which attracts a broad spectrum of occupiers and benefits from superior transport links. We have achieved considerable success in the area to date and are very pleased to be acquiring a further opportunity to add to our Grade A office portfolio of Barts Square, The Kaleidoscope above Farringdon East Crossrail Station and 25 Charterhouse Square.”
Peter Ferrari, Chief Executive of AshbyCapital, added: “We are very pleased to be working with the Helical team again on this exceptional development opportunity. This joint venture builds on the success of One Bartholomew, our 221,000ft² building which Helical developed for us and which is already two-thirds let within five months of completion.”
Clive Castle, Director of Offices at Nuveen Real Estate said: “Since our first involvement with this site in 2010, it has been our desire to create an exceptional piece of real estate aligned to where occupier requirements are moving. The location is second to none and it has been our pleasure to work with a talented design team and the City Corporation to work up the scheme. We look forward to seeing what will inevitably be an outstanding delivery by Helical and Ashby Capital in 2022.”
