LREF: The extent of work to be undertaken at Old Street Station, EC1, and the adjacent traffic island at the heart of the Old Street and Shoreditch technology district, is so large and pivotal for the area that Transport for London is considering starting a telecoms company, according to TfL’s director of commercial development Graeme Craig.
The spin-off technology company would mainly lay optical fibre. “Given the scale of what we are doing it seems obvious that we should get in that space,” said Craig.
Meanwhile, Craig expressed the “corporate shame” he feels every time he passes through Old Street underground station which lies at the heart of area, now beloved of the booming technology and media sector. He said that the station is the “epicentre” of the district, but added that in its current state it “hardly befits an epicentre”.
Steve Johns, head of city leasing at Deloitte Real Estate, told the Old Street and Shoreditch Area Briefing audience that about 1m sq ft of space was let in the area in 2014 and another 300,000 sq ft has let to date in 2015. A further 300,000 sq ft is vacant.
