(LONDON) The developer of the Shard, an 80-storey tower being built near London's Thames river, bought out its only office tenant on the prospect that rents will almost double from the agreed rate when the building is finished.
London Bridge Quarter Ltd, a joint venture between developer Sellar Property Group and the Qatar Central Bank, bought Transport for London's contract to rent 200,000 square feet (18,581 square metres) of space, according to a statement from LBQ. The building, which is due to be completed in 2012, will have 586,000 sq ft of offices.
Transport for London, which operates the capital city's subway and bus systems, agreed in 2006 to pay £38.50 (S$78.50) a square foot for the space, it said in a separate statement. Irvine Sellar, the chairman of Sellar Property Group, said in a January interview that he plans to charge as much as £70 per square foot for the remaining office space.
'It is believed that the Shard's completion will coincide with a shortage of new high quality space available to let,' said the LBQ statement. 'This agreement enables us to position the Shard at the very top end of the London office market.' - Bloomberg
Source: Business Times, 15 Jun 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment