A joint venture between Land Securities and the Canary Wharf Group has been established to get the project off the ground, with both parties getting behind what is essentially a speculative endeavour with no pre-let tenants in place.
Leaders of the JV are convinced that by the time the tower at 20 Fenchurch Street is completed in early 2014, there will be a relative lack of grade-A office space in central London and that demand will be strong for space in the Walkie-Talkie.
Around 690,000 sq ft of grade A London office space is expected to result from the tower’s construction in EC3, with floorplates ranging in size from 14,000 to 28,000 sq ft.
It is widely expected that the new office space tower will become one of the most recognisable buildings in central London.
Robert Noel, managing director of Land Securities’ London portfolio, commented: “In starting work on 20 Fenchurch Street with the Canary Wharf Group today, we begin an exciting journey that will bring together our complementary skills in development, leasing and construction to create a new landmark for London.”
“We are delighted to be able to apply our extensive high-rise experience to such an iconic development,” added the Canary Wharf Group’s chief executive George Iacobescu.
Central London is seeing a number of high-profile high-rise office towers being added to its skyline at present with The Shard building roughly halfway towards completion and the 47-storey The Cheesegrater development set to get underway in a matter of weeks.
Editor’s notes: The Walkie-Talkie development was completed in April 2014 with 3 tenants Markel, Kiln Group, and Ascot Underwriting signed pre-let agreements in 2012.
Other tenants that have agreed to rent office space in The Cheesegrater include RSA Insurance Group and CNA Financial.
As of May 2023, just 7,739 square feet of office space was available to rent within the 668,000-square-foot building by way of a 2-year sublease from one of the existing tenants on the 15th floor.
There is a wide range of flexible office space and workspace solutions provided at the property by an internationally renowned office provider.
See the Servcorp office space at The Cheesegrater here
Solutions include private serviced offices, managed office suites and corporate coworking membership plans.