Hammerson is to relocate from the West End to King’s Cross after agreeing a deal with Network Rail to take an assignment of part of its lease at the Guardian’s headquarters.
The retail REIT will exchange imminently on a deal to occupy around 40,000 sq ft on a single floor in King’s Place, 90 York Way , N1.
The terms of the deal are thought to equate to a rent in the mid-£50 per sq ft.
Hammerson currently occupies around 28,000 sq ft at 10 Grosvenor Street , W1, a building it owns jointly with Grosvenor.
The company’s lease at Grosvenor Street has a break in September 2015.
Hammerson’s departure will likely lead to the eventual sale of its 50% stake in the 58,000 sq ft building after it transformed itself into a retail specialist in 2012.
King’s Place is owned by Deka’s open-ended WestInvest InterSelect fund, which paid £235m – a 5.6% net initial yield – to buy the building from Parabola Land in 2012.
The Guardian occupies around 112,000 sq ft in the 300,000 sq ft Dixon Jones-designed building, which was completed in 2008.
Cushman & Wakefield acted for Hammerson; BNP Paribas Real Estate acted for Network Rail; Savills acts for Deka.
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
