The tall building market in London is seeing a surge in confidence, with two of the city?s most important towers to receive renewed attention from developers. Both Land Securities and British Land are planning to resume work on their City of London towers.
The ?Walkie Talkie? project at 20 Fenchurch Street and the ?Cheesegrater? project at 122 Leadenhall Street were both mothballed when the financial crisis hit in 2008. However, a New Civil Engineer report stated that the current trends in economic activity and retail growth had brought new life to the projects.
Turner & Townsend (T&T) managing director Steve McGuckin was positive about the current and future commercial building market. He said that a recent increase in rents had created a ?looming shortage? of high quality office space.
In addition, leases signed during the 1980s and 1990s ? spanning between 15 and 25 years ? with a 5 per cent renewal per year, are likely to create a significant demand during 2014-2015. Mr McGuckin has taken this as a sign that the investment market is buoyant and likely to grow in the near future.
Land Securities said that it was planning to reopen talks with developers for work on their 155-metre tall Fenchurch Street project. The developer is aiming to begin the project early in 2011, to finish in 2014.
British Land?s tower at Leadenhall will be 226 metres tall. The developer has only indicated its intention to restart the project, without providing specific start or completion times.
The projected future demand for office property is likely to encourage both investors and developers to consider investing in such projects.
