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 for space in the Walkie-Talkie will be strong.
Around 690,000 square feet of Grade A London office space is expected to be delivered by the tower’s construction in EC3, with floorplates ranging from 14,000 to 28,000 square feet.
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 three tenants, Markel, Kiln Group, and Ascot Underwriting, that signed pre-let agreements in 2012.
Other tenants that agreed to rent office space in The Cheesegrater included 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.
The property offers a wide range of flexible office and workspace solutions from 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.
In April 2026, it was reported that a 20,000 square feet suite of end-of-journey facilities had been completed at The Cheesegrater, also known as 122 Leadenhall Street and The Leadenhall Building.
As of June 2026, there was no landlord-controlled office space available to lease at The Leadenhall Building.
Only the tenant-controlled 15,861-square-foot 19th floor was available at the time. The refurbished and fully fitted space was available by way of a sub-lease or assignment, subject to the landlord’s approval.