Government has stepped up consolidation of its London offices this year, vacating close to 500,000 sq ft of space in the first quarter.
This week two departments made moves to exit more than 200,000 sq ft. The Ministry of Defence has agreed to surrender its lease at the 170,000 sq ft St George’s Court, a wedge-shaped block between New Oxford Street and Bloomsbury Way, W1.
Elsewhere, the Serious Fraud Office is to reduce its central London space by 40% by consolidating with the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport at 2-4 Cockspur Street, SW1.
The MoD’s departure from St George’s Court, where its lease was due to expire in 2017, allows landlord London & Regional to progress with plans to add 10,000 sq ft to the building and start extensive refurbishment.
L&R hopes to be able to deliver the new grade-A office stock to the market by 2013.
The SFO is exiting 61,000 sq ft at 10-16 Elm Street and 200 Gray’s Inn Road, both WC1, ahead of lease expiries in 2013 and 2014. It is taking 35,000 sq ft at the 95,000 sq ft Cockspur Street building, from the DCMS. The government’s lease on the building expires in 2017. The rent is around £45 per sq ft.
One agent said: “The Government Property Unit has been doing lots of work and assessments of the London estate over the past 18 months and it is now coming to fruition. It is a complex process so exits are likely to come in waves of 12 months.”
The two disposals follow that of the Department for Work & Pensions and Department of the Environment, which are offloading 160,000 sq ft at the Adelphi building and 90,000 sq ft at 22 Kingsway (pictured), both WC2, respectively.
Edward Charles & Partners and Savills are acting for L&R; Jones Lang LaSalle and Savills are advising the MoD; Cluttons and BNP Paribas Real Estate represented DCMS; BNP PRE also advised the SFO.
