Helical Bar is close to fully letting a major development in the City of London after agreeing a deal with the UK’s biggest property PR adviser.
FTI Consulting has agreed to take just under 70,000 sq ft at 200 Aldersgate Street, EC1, after an exhaustive search of Midtown and the western City.
The Florida-headquartered company, adviser to property giants including British Land, CBRE and Axa, will take the fifth and ninth floors plus part of the fourth floor.
It will join Thomas Cook and the Citizens Advice Bureau, which have gone under offer to take the 45,000 sq ft third floor.
The trio of deals will leave just 13,000 sq ft of the 370,000 sq ft building vacant.
Rents range from £40 per sq ft to £55 per sq ft, with FTI understood to have agreed a deal at around £45 per sq ft.
FTI instructed CBRE to search for a new 100,000 sq ft UK HQ in early 2012, as it looked to vacate its principal London base at Land Securities’ Holborn Gate, WC1.
The search took in Sainsbury’s nearby headquarters on Holborn Circus, before settling on Axa’s development of Sixty London on Holborn Viaduct.
But it was ousted from Sixty London when online retail giant Amazon swooped for the entire 210,000 sq ft building.
Helical Bar has enjoyed a steady flow of lettings at 200 Aldersgate in recent months including Agence France Presse, K Line UK, the Association of Train Operating Companies and Cass Business School, which have agreed to let a total of 73,000 sq ft of offices.
Bike retailer Giant has signed to open an 11,000 sq ft shop on the ground and lower ground floors, while Virgin Active operates a gym in the basement.
CBRE advised FTI; Matthews & Goodman acted for Thomas Cook; CBRE and Savills are letting agents on the building.
All parties declined to comment.
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
