BT is understood to have drawn up a shortlist of four potential new homes for its London headquarters, after appointing advisers for a potential sale of its current base at 81 Newgate Street, EC1.
The options include Canary Wharf Group’s Wood Wharf development, the International Quarter London in Stratford – a 50/50 joint venture between Lendlease and London & Continental Railways, YardNine’s 80 Fenchurch Street, EC3, and Aldgate Developments’ One Braham, E1.
BT appointed Cushman & Wakefield in the summer to advise on sale options of the 1980s-built 300,000 sq ft BT Centre as part of its plans to downsize and move to a more modern building.
First round bids are understood to have been submitted last week for the property, which occupies a 1.5 acre site close to St Paul’s, following strong interest from investors.
BT has had a rocky period recently, announcing in June that its chief executive Gavin Patterson was to step down following an outcry after the company revealed plans to cut 13,000 jobs over the next three years and reduce its costs by £1.5bn.
In October, the British telecoms giant announced Philip Jansen, co-chief executive of global payments services group Worldpay, would be replacing Patterson at the beginning of February.
In November, the business reported that 2,000 roles at the business had already been axed, with the majority being lost from its global services division.
Overall savings from the restructuring programme are currently an annualised benefit of more than £350m with an associated cost of £206m, according to BT’s latest financial results. This helped reduce costs at the business by pushing up EBITDA by 2% to £3.7bn as costs dropped by 3% for the six months ended in September.
BT, Lendlease and Aldgate Development declined to comment. YardNine and Canary Wharf Group have been contacted for comment.
BT’s options for its new London HQ
- Wood Wharf is a £3.9bn 22-acre mixed-use development adjoining Canary Wharf that has been masterplanned by Allies and Morrison. It is scheduled to be completed by 2023. It will comprise just under 2m sq ft of office space across six buildings ranging in size from 100,000 sq ft to 200,000 sq ft. It will include 3,600 new homes and 350,000 sq ft of retail. The first phase of building is expected to be delivered next year. It will also include nine acres of parks, piazzas, squares and walkways. Canary Wharf Group has already agreed leasing deals at the development. The Office Group is to take 45,000 sq ft at 15 Water Street, while hospitality developer and operator Ennismore is to operate a 312-room hotel under its NoCo brand.
- The £2.4bn International Quarter London is being developed by Lendlease and LCR adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Stratford International railway station. It is aiming to deliver 4m sq ft of office space and 333 new residential flats within a 22-acre site. TfL has already moved into the scheme, while the FCA and Unicef are in the process of moving in. Construction of the third commercial building is under way, with space prelet to Cancer Research UK and the British Council. It will be in occupation by early 2020. Planning consent was also received in September for another commercial building at the project. Designed by Arney Fender Katsalidis, the 22-storey tower will provide 350,000 sq ft of space.
- Currently under construction, 80 Fenchurch – designed by TP Bennett – is to be a 14-storey building comprising 252,250 sq ft in the City of London. Plans were initially developed by Exemplar and Partners Group, but it is now being delivered by YardNine on behalf of Partners Group, which was formed earlier this year by Exemplar directors Campbell MacDougall and Maxwell Shand. It is due to complete in summer 2020.
- One Braham is a £320m, 18-storey commercial building being delivered by Aldgate Developments above Aldgate East Tube station.
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