British Land has appointed Hopkins Architects to draw up plans for the next phase of its 11-acre Paddington Estate.
Chief executive Chris Grigg said the firm had been “appointed to commence initial design of a masterplan” for the W2 office-led campus. The REIT bought Aviva Investor’s majority stake in the estate for £470m in July 2013.
The next phase includes 4 and 5 Kingdom Street, where there is consent for 355,000 sq ft of offices, with plans expected to include housing.
Grigg added that the REIT “would anticipate getting going” on the development of 4 Kingdom Street this year and 5 Kingdom Street in 2015 because it was a “bigger reworking”.
The developer is planning to replicate the rental growth at its 13-acre Regent’s Place estate, NW1, where office tenants now pay £70 per sq ft, up from £42.50 per sq ft in 2010.
In 2012, Hopkins was appointed by BL to draw up proposals for the refurbishment of 100 Liverpool Street and 8-12 Broadgate, both EC2, as the next stage of the overhaul of the 1980s Broadgate office complex.
Bridget.O’Connell@estatesgazette.com
