Great Portland Estate has secured a second prelet at its 20-storey tower at 240 Blackfriars Road, SE1, taking it to 58% let.
The REIT and its 50:50 joint venture partner, Ropemaker Properties, the property nominee of the BP Pension Fund, have prelet 23,608 sq ft to law firm Boodle Hatfield.
It will occupy the ninth and tenth floors and join UBM plc, which leased 105,648 sq ft in January 2012. Boodle Hatfield will take two 10- year leases, paying a total of £1,180,400 per annum, equating to £50 per sq ft, and will receive 25 months’ rent free from lease commencement.
The Great Ropemaker Partnership commenced construction of the 20-storey building in January 2012 with practical completion scheduled for March 2014.
The 236,555 sq ft development will provide 222,239 sq ft of offices, 4,556 sq ft of shops and 9,760 sq ft of residential in 10 private flats in an adjacent building. DTZ is letting agent.
Neil Thompson, portfolio director of GPE, said: “This second preletting results in 58% of the office space being let so far. We look forward to welcoming Boodle Hatfield to 240 Blackfriars Road, which will be a high-quality, prominent office building on completion in March 2014.”
Richard Maughan, senior partner at Boodle Hatfield, said: “We are looking forward to moving our main office to Bankside which we believe will help us to improve further the service that we provide to our clients and to continue to attract the highest quality talent in our field.
“Together with our offices in Mayfair and Oxford, these premises will provide us with a fantastic base from which to continue the growth and development of Boodle Hatfield.”
Cushman & Wakefield advised Boodle Hatfield.
