5 Broadgate (New 700,000 sq ft UBS London HQ) | 69m | City of London U/C

[leytonstonia]

From my blog with a couple of photos of the existing buildings that we're talking about...

http://www.leytonstonia.com/2010/08/...-space-at.html

UBS signs for 700,000 sq ft of space at British Land's Broadgate Estate

In a clear vote of confidence in London and the square mile, Swiss Bank UBS has signed a pre-let agreement with British Land and its joint venture partner Blackstone for 700,000 sq ft of space at the Broadgate Estate in what will become the largest single office building in the City of London.

The new development, to be called Five Broadgate will contain four new trading floors of 65,000 sq ft each for the banks investment banking division as well as general office space, and will replace the existing buildings at Four and Six Broadgate. The 20-year lease deal is the largest signed since the onset of the credit crunch and includes an 18-month rent free period for UBS, who are paying £54.50 per sq ft, which is considerably more than the £40.50 paid by Nomura at Watermark Place showing the rapid recovery in London's office market.

UBS is currently the largest tenant in the Broadgate Estate and indeed British Land's largest office client, accounting for 4% of total rent. There had previously been concerns that the Swiss banking giant may have looked for a move away from Broadgate when its existing leases expired between September 2013 and 2017, with Canary Wharf seen as a likely destination. With this deal now secured, any speculation can be dismissed with British Land likely to turn its attention to developing the Cheesegrater at 122 Leadenhall, with only limited availability at existing offices such as 201 Bishopsgate, Broadgate Tower and Ropemaker Place, which was 91% let as of 31 March 2010 to both Macquarie Group and Bank of Tokyo‐Mitsubishi UFJ.

Commenting on the deal, British Land Chief Chris Grigg said “We are delighted at this significant commitment by UBS to the City and Broadgate in particular. The transaction demonstrates the enduring appeal of this important City of London office estate. At the same time, the new building will enhance the overall quality of Broadgate while generating an attractive development return.”

It is expected that demolition of the existing buildings and preparation works will commence in the second half of 2011. Practical completion to shell and core is then planned for the second half of 2014, with British Land and Blackstone stating that construction costs will total £340 million not taking into account the value of the land or interest. With the arrival of Crossrail at Liverpool Street station in 2017 a new Broadgate ticket hall will open, which will also likely have been a factor for UBS, offering a direct link to both Canary Wharf and Heathrow airport.

The deal also serves to highlight the rapid progress in IT infrastructure and the ever changing requirements of major occupiers. Broadgate was officially opened in December 1991 yet parts of the giant estate are already being demolished and redeveloped to meet the specific needs of UBS, a trend that is becoming more common in the City with the construction of New Court for the Rothschild bank and a return to pre-lets. The deal is subject to planning permission from the City of London but it is not expected that there will be a building of any significant height.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[chrissus83]

British Land and Blackstone have completed the signing of a lease to develop a 700,000 sq ft Building at 4 and 6 Broadgate in the City of London for UBS.

In a stock market announcement this morning BL and Blackstone, said Bluebutton Properties), their joint venture company, has signed an agreement for leases with UBS to develop the building on the Broadgate Estate.

The jv said the development marked “another important stage in the ongoing investment programme at Broadgate, which will ensure that it remains the premier City of London office estate, providing modern world-class accommodation for its office, retail and leisure occupiers”.

UBS will pay an initial headline rent of £54.50 per sq ft with annual RPI linked increases with a weighted average lease length of 18.2 years.

The agreement includes deferral of breaks in existing UBS lease agreements on other Broadgate buildings.

The jv said the the development costs were around £340m (excluding land and interest costs).

It said that practical completion to shell and core scheduled for the second half of 2014. The transaction is subject to planning approval

Chris Grigg, chief executive of BL, said: "We are delighted at this significant commitment by UBS to the City and Broadgate in particular. The transaction demonstrates the enduring appeal of this important City of London office estate. At the same time, the new building will enhance the overall quality of Broadgate while generating an attractive development return."

Chad Pike, senior managing director of Blackstone, said: "Blackstone and British Land have both had long-standing and deep relationships with UBS. We are very excited to find yet another opportunity to work together.

“We are also excited to have the chance to make a substantial investment in a project that will rejuvenate Broadgate and retain 5,000 employees in the City of London by ensuring a high quality work environment."

UBS is currently the largest tenant in Broadgate occupying wholly or in part five buildings on the estate covering just over 1m sq ft of offices. The existing leases, which have tenant break options between September 2013 and 2017, generate annual passing rent of £45m.

As a result of the deal, Bluebutton Properties, advised by Eurohypo AG, has substituted assets within the Broadgate Financing securitisation.

The properties subject to redevelopment 3, 4 & 6 Broadgate, have been removed from the securitisation and replaced with two the recently constructed 201 Bishopsgate and Broadgate Tower. The deal also includes the substitution of £226, of cash collateral.

The deal represents a net equity injection to the securitisation of £229m by Bluebutton Properties.

broadgate future development:
[IMG]http://i30.************/2crr429.jpg[/IMG]

[Yorkshire Boy]

JESUS!!! 700,000 sq ft? that's HUGE!

Can we expect a 100 Bishopgate boxy style highrise then, to maximise the floorplates?

[leytonstonia]

The existing building 6 Broadgate comprises 250,355 sq ft and is only seven stories high with a relatively small floor plate, so in keeping with the rest of the estate they'll likely be looking for a low rise building with an increased area rather than a tower. Walking round the site I was amazed at just how small it is.

[potto]

700'000sq foot ground blob. Shows you just how ill-thought the sightlines are!

[international-one]

Just in from the Architects Journal......

The AJ understands Make is designing the new £340 million headquarters for Swiss bank UBS at Broadgate in the City of London

Yesterday British Land and Blackstone Group announced they had signed an agreement with UBS to build a 65,000m² ‘trading’ tower on the site of 4 and 6 Broadgate near Liverpool Street station.

The existing buildings will be demolished to make way for the unseen scheme which will boast four trading floors, each with an area of around one and a half acres.

British Land and Blackstone, under their joint venture banner Bluebutton Properties, hope to start building in the middle of next year and complete the project in 2014.

Chris Grigg, chief executive of British Land, said: ‘The transaction demonstrates the enduring appeal of this important City of London office estate. At the same time, the new building will enhance the overall quality of Broadgate while generating an attractive development return.’

No one from Make was available for comment.

[Black Cat]

I hope the new building is aesthetically more interesting than the existing 80s buildings. Four and Six Broadgate are not awful, but I never warmed to them either, and I won't miss them.

[leytonstonia]

The existing buildings both overlook the Broadgate Arena, which is a great public space. Hopefully the new building will make more use of this area. I agree that the buildings aren't awful but the whole estate is very much of its age and I wouldn't be surprised if further areas are torn down over the coming years.

[potto]

Bits of the 'public space' works, other bits feel hostile. The main trouble is that the whole development is a private estate, unlike Canary Wharf it is too small to make this really work. Because of its size it makes the integration with the wider streets all the more important which it currently fails at.

[chrissus83]

MAKE are very hit and miss (more misses than hits in my opinion) but lets hope it is more like their proposal for monument than their cube in Birmingham. I have it from a reliable source that it wont be a tower but it will indeed be taller than what is already there by several stories.

[chrissus83]

Mods it appears there are two threads, please merge at your convenience

[Turbosnail]

British Land harp on about being committed to investing in Broadgate to provide world class office space etc. so it wouldn't suprise me if this is part of a programme to eventually rebuild the entire site over time. Doing very crude mathematics on the site I'm guesstimating the building will be somewhere around 225ft tall comprising around 16 floors. The square footage is somewhere between 1 Canada Square and Heron Tower but I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, the 4-6 site is slightly larger than both 1CS and Heron - maybe being longer with the same width.

[Cutch]

Are there any plans or renderings for this one yet? Sounds like this is going to shoot up. (Once the demolition takes place and the ground work and the foundations etc, etc, etc...)

[Turbosnail]

Not until plans are submitted towards the end of the year.

[ghost101]

Remember that the Merrill Lynch Financial Center at 600,000+ sq ft (900,000+ sq ft gross) is only 7 floors high.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...f0fVPafl67HK8A

[Turbosnail]

I didn't know that - question is, is the 700,000 sq ft gross or 'net' - also the footprint of that building looking on google maps appears slightly larger although it's impossible to know atm how large the footprint of this new one will be.

One of the most exciting features about Broadgate in the coming years is that there will be a Crossrail station here which will enhance it's appeal for tenants and London's reputation as a financial centre in terms of it's transport links.

[Medo]

Threads merged.

[ferge]

So those images are of the buildings that are going? Shame... I actually quite like them haha

[leytonstonia]

Yep, it's actually very difficult to get a decent shot of them as they're very much hemmed in but they're what's being pulled down to make way for the new building.

[Light Parade]

I am a little stunned to see that so much of Broadgate - which, in my elderly way, I still consider to be "new" - should be considered for redevelopment - seems like just yesterday I was catching the train from Broad Street.

My greener side objects to demolishing pretty much anything that isn't even 20 years old (I assume that, like a car, most of the lifetime energy consumption of a building takes place when it is being created).

Aesthetically, though, I would really miss the Bishopsgate block - the beaux-arts "skyscraper lying on its side". There are plenty of you on this forum who abhor pastiche and empty historicism, for arguments that I wholly understand. But I have a soft spot for the absurd pomp of this building, and also for the even madder 10 Cabot Square.

Both buildings are Reagan-Imperial SOM, and both recall what SOM was building in Chicago during the Gilded Age - they pastiche an architecture that is American, not English (another reason to strike them down, another reason to like them). I suppose the Ritz is about as close as we come in London to the original style - the Ritz is often cited as the first major steel-framed, masonry-faced building in London, so I guess it's as much of a "lie" as 10CS or 175 Bish.

Nevertheless, take out the pastiche and the absurd, and it's farewell to Tower Bridge, the Hoover building, Liberty and many others (cue distant memories of Moorish cinemas and the Egyptian Hall).

One of the best (and best hidden) threads on SkyscraperCity is Lost London http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=442332, the only thread I've read from start to finish. If 175 Bish were to go, it'll turn up on Lost with the old theatres, banks and department stores. I think that would be a pity...

...but you can't buck the market.