ITV is plotting a major redevelopment of its South Bank home as it attempts to consolidate into a single building and cash in on booming residential values.
The broadcaster wants to redevelop the 2.5-acre London Television Centre, SE1, together with adjoining land, to provide an office building of around 250,000 sq ft and hundreds of homes.
It has begun talks with Coin Street Community Builders, which owns the Princes Wharf site to the east of the 22-storey LTV tower at 58-72 Upper Ground.
Knight Frank has been appointed ahead of rivals CBRE and Savills to advise ITV on its London occupational strategy.
ITV bought the London Television Centre complex from Coal Pension Properties, a fund managed by LaSalle Investment Management, for £56m at the start of last year, and agreed to pay an additional fee of up to £6.5m if it pursued a redevelopment.
The company hopes to stay on site at the South Bank while a new office is constructed.
London Television Centre would then be freed up for a residential-led scheme once the broadcaster has moved into the new offices next door.
But the prospects for a redevelopment are complicated by the fact that ITV occupies 80,000 sq ft at the ITN building on Gray’s Inn Road, WC1, on a lease expiring in 2023 with a break in June 2016.
It does not expect a redevelopment to be viable before 2018, which will mean it must either regear its lease with Gray’s Inn Road landlord Great Portland Estates or sublet the space until expiry.
Knight Frank will explore alternative options for a 250,000 sq ft office requirement on behalf of ITV in case a redevelopment proves unviable.
An ITV spokesman said: “We have been carrying out a feasibility study, with owner Coin Street Community Builders, to jointly consider options for the future development of the Princes Wharf site, adjacent to our base on the South Bank.”
Shell engineered a lucrative deal to capitalise on the residential value of its South Bank campus in 2011.
Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar are in the process of redeveloping Shell’s 5.3-acre South Bank site to provide the oil giant with new offices and almost 900 homes.
The joint venture developers committed £150m each to secure the site from Shell on a 999-year lease.
Secretary of state for communities and local government Eric Pickles last week signed off on the £1.3bn scheme after it was called in last September.
Pearson is also attempting to unlock the residential value of the Financial Times’ headquarters at 1 Southwark Bridge, SE1, and is in talks with TfL to build a new headquarters at the nearby Cross Bones site.
Knight Frank declined to comment.
Jack.Sidders@estatesgazette.com
