Middlecap signs first tenant at ‘world’s smartest office’

Developer Middlecap has signed the first tenant at its Southworks office development in south-east London.

Consultancy firm Steer has taken a 10-year lease for more than 17,000 sq ft of office space at the scheme, which has been dubbed the “the world’s smartest office”.

Steer will take the entire first floor and part of the ground floor of the 68,000 sq ft development in Southwark, SE1.

It will move its 200-strong team of consultants across early next year, after having been previously based at Upper Ground, Southbank.

Southworks was named the smartest office block in the world at the 2021 Futureproof Awards this summer for its central digital operating system which monitors conditions such as density, occupancy, noise levels and air quality.

It comes after EG revealed earlier this year that Middlecap is gearing up to sell the building in 2022, in a deal that could value it at £105m.

Tomáš Jurdák, Middlecap’s head of real estate, told EG in October that he hopes to eventually sell the scheme at a 4% yield.

Sharon Daly, Steer’s chief operating officer, said the company had chosen the development because it would help it hit its net zero commitments.

“Southworks, with its smart and sustainable technological features, ticked all our boxes.”

Knight Frank and Addleshaw Goddard advised MiddleCap while Hanover Green acted for Steer.

 

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Image © Ed Reeve