by Marc Lopatin
Schroders has beaten off competition from solicitor Slaughter & May to take Pillar Property’s Christchurch Court, EC4. The move will have a crucial effect on Schroders’ plans to redevelop the surrounding Paternoster Square.
Schroders will prelet the whole of the 26,012m2 (280,000 sq ft) Christchurch Court building for its banking arm, J Henry Schroder. It has agreed a 20-year lease, paying rent of about £495 per m2 (£46 per sq ft).
Pillar Property submitted a revised application for the scheme earlier this week.
The letting will be a welcome boost for the 88,275m2 (950,215 sq ft) redevelopment of Paternoster Square, which is next to St Paul’s Cathedral.
A source commented that the deal should build the confidence of major occupiers needing space and thus act as a catalyst for the rest of Paternoster.
Schroders is principal adviser to Mitsubishi at Paternoster Square. But the controversial EC4 site was not the investment bank’s first choice.
Last year Schroders was pipped by merchant bank Robert Fleming at L&G’s Barrington House in Gresham Street, EC2. Fleming has taken a 25-and-a-half-year lease with two years’ rent free at £538 per m2 (£50 per sq ft).
It is expected that Pillar will now exercise its option to buy Christchurch Court from Magnox, formerly known as Nuclear Electric, for around £30m.
Savills and Richard Ellis are acting for Pillar.
