Bank of America is to weigh up options for a 350,000 sq ft requirement in the City.
The US financial giant, which merged with Merrill Lynch in January 2009, has appointed CB Richard Ellis to review its occupational requirements in the capital.
Last March, the group was preparing to consolidate staff from its HQ at 5 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, E14, into Merrill Lynch’s 700,000 sq ft offices at 102 Newgate Street, EC1.
But an improvement in economic sentiment and a lower-than-expected reduction in headcount has sparked the potential requirement for extra space.
A source said: “Following a period of rationalisation, BoA is now looking at growing its headcount again as market conditions improve. The additional space that CBRE will be tasked with sourcing factors in expansion plans and less-than-expected contraction.”
The search, which comes at a time when agents are reporting a dip in City take-up for the second quarter, would be the largest in London this year.
A spokesman for BoA said that it “evaluates its real estate requirements on an ongoing basis”, but that it had no plans for a “market specific” search.
BoA has a lease expiry on its Canada Square HQ in 2012, but may choose to renew it.
Despite almost 2m sq ft of occupational deals completing in the Square Mile in Q1, the City has suffered from a dearth of new office requirements this year (see above).
Agents are anticipating the next wave of searches to be driven by financial occupiers with lease expiries or breaks in the next six years.
