US-based law firm Morrison & Foerster has placed four floors under offer at WRBC Development’s the Scalpel, EC3, with an option to take more space at London’s newest office building.
The firm, which advised Softbank on its £24bn acquisition of UK-based semiconductor and software design company ARM Holdings in 2016, is looking to take levels 22 to 25, totalling more than 55,000 sq ft.
Average rents in the City of London stand at around £56 per sq ft, but prime rents are now hitting above £70 per sq ft, according to research from Radius Data Exchange.
It will likely join the National Bank of Australia, which has also recently placed floors nine and 10, totalling nearly 27,000 sq ft, under offer at the 36-storey tower, as well as global insurance firm Axis Capital and insurance broker BLP Global (Berry, Palmer and Lyle), which both pre-let space in autumn 2016.
W.R. Berkley Corporation’s London-based insurance operation, of which WRBC Development is a subsidiary, is also to occupy 81,300 sq ft at the 400,000 sq ft tower, meaning the office space is now over half let with the shell and core construction of the building only recently finished. W.R. Berkley will occupy level 35 and levels 13 to 17.
Morrison & Foerster currently occupy just over 40,000 sq ft at Brookfield’s Citypoint on Ropemaker Street, EC2, on a lease that ends in December next year, while the National Bank of Australia is based at 88 Wood Street, EC2.
A spokesperson for the National Bank of Australia said the bank was in exclusive negotiations over the space at the Scalpel, but as yet “had not committed or signed anything, as the board has not given its approval”.
Morrison & Foerster declined to comment. WRBC Development has been contacted for comment.
The move to pre-let new build space is a trend that has been increasing in momentum among occupiers looking to attract and retain the best talent the capital can offer.
Radius Data Exchange reported last month that for the first half of 2018 32% of overall take-up was for offices either under construction or pre-construction.
Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE are leasing agents on the Scalpel.
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