Focus on London towers ahead of Shard inauguration
Ahead of the inauguration on Thursday of The Shard, speculation is building as to the identity of the first tenant of the available office space in this, the newest and tallest building in London. The Telegraph has quoted Irvine Sellar, chairman of the developer Sellar Property, as saying that three parties are in talks about letting offices within the building. Broadcaster Al Jazeera and management consultancy AT Kearney have previously been said to be holding discussions. Floors 34 to 52 of The Shard have already been let to the Shangri-La Hotel, and Mr. Sellar said announcements on restaurants were “imminent”.
According to Drivers Jonas Deloitte, around 2.4m sq ft of skyscraper space is currently under construction in London, says The Times – around a quarter of the 9.2m sq ft of office space currently being built in the capital. The firm estimates that about 20% or 492,000 sq ft, of all the tower space under construction in London has already been let. But this leaves around 2m sq ft of space remaining in weak economic conditions that have reduced business confidence, the paper notes.
It goes on, however, to highlight the confidence at British Land – developer with Oxford Properties of the ‘Cheesegrater’ or Leadenhall building – and at Land Securities – developer with Canary Wharf Group of the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ tower at 20 Fenchurch Street – that the time is right for a new generation of tower buildings in London. “The amount of new office space is relatively constrained and the market is ready for it,” the paper quotes British Land’s head of development Nigel Webb as saying.
