Internet giant Google is in advanced discussions to take the remaining space at Legal & General Property’s and Mitsubishi Estate Company’s Central Saint Giles, WC2.
Google is preparing to go under offer to take the remaining 160,000 sq ft in the office building in a move that would significantly boost the search engine’s London presence.
Rents at the scheme are between £50 and £60 per sq ft.
Google has been talking to landlords across the capital about taking varying amounts of space. However, the deal at Central Saint Giles is said to be the most advanced of all the talks.
Google would join other media firms in the building, including NBCUniversal, which this week signed to take 112,000 sq ft. Mindshare will occupy 78,000 sq ft on the seventh and eighth floors, and Specific Media has taken 25,000 sq ft.
If a deal goes ahead, the entire 408,000 sq ft of office space in Central Saint Giles will be let, creating a major media hub in the West End.
A source said: “This is a coup for the landlords, which have managed to let the floors in quick succession. It is evidence that new good-quality space remains in high demand.”
Google’s occupational requirement has been in an almost constant state of flux in recent months.
Earlier this month, it ramped up its requirement from 150,000 sq ft to 400,000 sq ft, as revealed by Estates Gazette (5 March, p42), and last week it was linked with a 700,000 sq ft move to Argent’s King’s Cross Central, NW1.
CB Richard Ellis advises Google and NBCUniversal; Jones Lang LaSalle and Cushman & Wakefield are letting agents at Central Saint Giles.
