Shard developer Irvine Sellar is confident he will be able to fill London’s newest skyscraper by the end of 2014.
The 1,016ft tower was officially inaugurated on Thursday by Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani and Prince Andrew in a ceremony marking the completion of the exterior of the building.
Sellar said he expected the 570,000 sq ft of office space in the tower, which also includes luxury flats, restaurants and a Shangri-La hotel, to be fully occupied within two years. It expects to secure rents at around £55 per sq ft on most of the space.
Just 30,000 sq ft is under offer, to Qatari-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Sellar said talks were ongoing with “a number of parties for a number of floors”. He added: “We are being extremely selective, and our intention is not to have one single overpowering occupier.”
Some 200,000 sq ft of the space was to be let to Transport for London, but both parties cancelled the deal in 2010.
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saoud Al Thani, governor of Qatar Central Bank and chairman of the board of directors of Shard Funding Limited, said the vast funds ploughed into the project should be seen as part of Qatar’s long-standing relationship with the UK.
