Helical Bar and Crosstree Real Estate Partners have secured their first two lettings at office and retail scheme The Bower, EC1.
Z Hotels will open their fourth London hotel at The Bower after agreeing a 35-year lease for the 21,000 sq ft Empire House on City Road.
The group has already started the refurbishment works on site and the 106-bed hotel will welcome its first guests in early 2015.
London chain Gymbox has agreed a 25-year lease for around 10,000 sq ft of space at The Bower for its sixth London gym, which will be open towards the end of 2014.
Helical Bar and Crosstree acquired the 3.12-acre site adjacent to Old Street Roundabout in December 2012 for £60.8m.
It comprises over 230,000 sq ft of office space across three buildings – Empire House, 207 and 211 Old Street – and around 46,000 sq ft of retail space.
Planning consent was granted at the end of 2013 and work on the office buildings has now started on site. The 122,000 sq ft Warehouse and the 18,500 sq ft Studio, which form Phase 1, will be available from spring 2015.
Helical Bar executive director Gerald Kaye said:“Z Hotels and Gymbox are two popular urban lifestyle brands that will appeal to both residents and workers in the area as well as greatly augmenting the local amenities on offer for potential occupiers.
“They are important foundation tenants for this new destination development and are illustrative of the environment that we are creating at The Bower.
“Work on Phase 1 commenced in January and we have already received strong interest from potential tenants for both the retail and office space.”
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
