Facebook is to significantly expand its presence in London, in a move which will bolster confidence in the capital’s office market as employers tussle with the switch to hybrid working.
The tech giant will move into the entirety of a new British Land-owned office block at 1 Triton Square, NW1, in a 310,000 sq ft letting which effectively dislodges a prelet signed at the site by media company Dentsu Aegis four years ago.
The block is part of British Land’s Regent’s Place office campus near Regent’s Park, where both Facebook and Dentsu already have offices, at 10 Brock Street and 10-20 Triton Street respectively.
Facebook’s decision to scale up its office footprint in London comes after it committed to several new innovation projects in recent months.
These include billions of dollars-worth of work on augmented-reality and virtual-reality technology to power a so-called metaverse, an idea for a digital world that increasingly blurs the lines between physical reality and online experiences.
Facebook has also been reported to be launching a new digital wallet, a product which allows users to store cryptocurrency. The tech giant is also working on its own cryptocurrency product called Diem, which is to be based in Switzerland.
Social media rivals Snapchat and Tiktok both expanded their London office presence this year.
Snapchat is nearing a deal to lease 114,000 sq ft at HB Reavis’s Bloom building in Farringdon, while Chinese company TikTok signed a deal to take the entirety of Helical’s nearby 88,600 sq ft Kaleidoscope building in March.
TikTok’s parent company Bytedance is also looking to take more space in the capital, with an active requirement of more than 150,000 sq ft. It has carried out viewings near the site of its existing Farringdon lease.
Dentsu dislodged
Facebook’s decision to move into 1 Triton Square means Dentsu will remain at its existing office in the 110,000 sq ft 10-20 Triton Street.
The Japanese-based agency told EG that it had recently decided to adopt a hybrid working policy, meaning it no longer needed the significant increase in space to the 310,000 sq ft 1 Triton Square.
It makes Dentsu the latest major London occupier to downsize an office requirement that it had previously committed to, and will serve as a reminder to market observers that despite Facebook’s decision to take more space, many will be looking for ways to jettison surplus offices.
A Dentsu International spokesperson said: “Like many organisations, Dentsu International has been examining future ways of working with employees alongside the changing needs of the business.
“Through this evaluation, we have committed to a new hybrid model of working that blends both office and remote working, providing flexibility and balance for our people.
“This change has provided an opportunity to re-evaluate our property requirement and we have negotiated with British Land to remain with our current lease agreements at 10 and 20 Triton Street.”
British Land and Facebook declined to comment.
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