The Metropolitan Police Authority is to lease Land Securities’ entire 442,000 sq ft Empress State building in Earl’s Court, SW6.
The Met had been expected to take only 10 of the refurbished building’s 30 floors. But, in the London police force’s first property deal under the estate strategy it unveiled in February, it has agreed to sign a 15-year lease on all the space.
As part of the arrangement the Met will pay a premium to surrender the lease on Wellington House, which is part of its Scotland Yard estate, to landlord LandSec.
Wellington House, 67-73 Buckingham Gate, SW1, includes the Met’s economic and specialist crime fraud squad. The Met will use the Empress State building for a mixture of frontline and support staff.
The Met, which plans to grow to 35,000 officers in the next few years, does not plan to occupy the whole building for at least five years. In the meantime, under its Landflex flexible lease package, LandSec will manage all sublettings.
The first sublet is three floors totalling 50,000 sq ft to Transport for London, which will move to the site in September on a five-year lease.
The Met’s rent will have fixed, annual, indexed uplifts, and all repairs, maintenance and life-cycle replacement risks will be shouldered by LandSec.
The Met’s property services director, Alan Croney, announced plans to sell more than 200 operational buildings in the next 10 years to release cash to renew and replace 60% of its ageing, largely freehold, portfolio, which is worth £1.5bn. He said “The move to modern accommodation is part of our strategy to reinvest, refresh and recycle the estate.”
LandSec spent £102m gutting and refurbishing the west London tower, which includes meeting and conference facilities, a fitness centre, childcare and a 200-cover restaurant. Letting agents are Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker and Jones Lang LaSalle. Ernst & Young advised the Met.
