by Duncan Lamb
Through the purchase of Lowndes Lambert House, 53 Eastcheap, EC3, for £17m, British Land have secured another piece of a site jigsaw which could see them develop around 800,000 sq ft of offices in a prime City location.
The acquisition of the 71,000-sq ft block from Stargas Nominees — who were represented by Weatherall Green & Smith — follows the £20.2m purchase of 70,000 sq ft at 36-38 Fenchurch Street and 1-3 Mincing Lane, EC3. All the properties occupy key positions in relation to BL’s Plantation House — which currently provides 500,000 sq ft of offices and has a planning permission which would extend this to 550,000 sq ft.
In total, the company have a site covering 2.25 acres and are planning to apply for revised consents — which could leave them with permission for 800,000 sq ft of redevelopment.
However, they intend to take their time over considering the development options.
Chairman John Ritblat said the site provides them with the chance to create a number of “infinitely flexible” buildings along the 300 yds of frontage they now possess along Fenchurch Street, Mincing Lane, Eastcheap and Rood Lane.
Currently the company are being advised by Ove Arup over the planning of the entire site and new planning applications should be made soon.
Other than a straightforward phased development, BL could alternatively attract a single organisation that might take interim space in the buildings with a view to occupying new premises on the site in the future.
Or they could sell the lot.
This last option seems not impossible but unlikely, as it is understood that a would-be purchaser would probably have to offer around £200m now to make BL pass up the opportunity of creating a development worth around £500m to £600m.
However, Mr Ritblat is in the pleasant position of being able to wait and see.
The company now have a programme of potential development of around 1.5m sq ft in the City. Remarkably, their interests are almost exclusively freehold — with the exception of their involvement in the Paternoster Square consortium.
Elsewhere they own the 108,000-sq ft Mariner House, Crutched Friars, EC3, and the Corn Exchange building in Mark Lane, EC3.
