Offices to Lease in London / Buy in London
EC4 is one of the London’s pre-eminent districts encompassing part of the City of London and part of Midtown Map of EC4.
Stretching from Temple in the West to Monument in the East the River defines the southern boundary of EC4 with St Pauls to the north.
The total office stock in EC4 comprises around 21.5 million sq ft (the City’s total stock is 92 million sq ft) making it the second largest by stock (after EC2). However, under construction developments in EC3 will see that postcode surpass EC4 during 2020
Major financial occupiers include Rothschild, Old Mutual, Fidelity, Nomura and World Pay. The acclaimed 700,000sf Bloomberg European Headquarters building in Cannon Street, EC4 is one of many major EC4 HQs incorporating a 30,000 sq ft covered retail arcade whilst Goldman Sachs pre-let the National Pension Services 820,000 sf development at Plumtree Court, EC4 to house 6,000 staff and with wellness facilities including a 7,000 Sq Ff nursery and childcare facility. Solicitors include CMS Cameron McKenna, K&L Gates and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. Major insurer Gallagher deserted its EC3 home for The Walbrook opposite Cannon Street Station. For the moment they remain in the vanguard and other insurers have yet to follow Gallagher’s westerly relocation. The Financial Times completed its relocation back to Bracken House in Friday Street in 2019 following the spectacular re-incarnation by Architects, John Robertson Associates, of Brendan Bracken’s 1957 pink sandstone edifice – BBG News Article. Wells Fargo purchased its London HQ at 33 King William Street, EC4 in 2019 from developer HB Reavis.
The public transport infrastructure includes mainline services from Cannon Street, Blackfriars and St Pauls Thameslink with underground stations at Temple, Blackfriars, Manson House, Cannon Street, St Pauls and Monument. Transport for London’s £500m Bank Station improvement programme including a new entrance and ticket hall in Cannon Street is set to complete in 2021. Bank junction sees a pedestrian footfall of over 50,000 people per hour especially after its pedestrianisation in 2019.
Wren’s 16th century masterpiece St Paul’s Cathedral is the outstanding tourist attraction whilst the River Thames walkway maintains its allure to tourists and office workers alike. St Bride’s Church located south of Fleet Street is famous as the model church for the universally adopted wedding cake decoration!
London EC4 features large as it includes much of the historic processional route. The contrast with the new and modern is reflected in 9 of the City of London’s 26 Conservation Areas lying within EC4. From east to west the designated areas are Monument, Cannon Street, Fleet Street, Holborn, Midtown, Queen Victoria Street, Blackfriars, New Bridge Street, Laurence Pountney Hill, Bank, Queen Street, Bow Lane, St Pauls, Whitefriars, Chancery Lane and Temple EC4 Conservation Areas.
Hotels in EC4 range from The Grange St Pauls off Carter Lane, EC4 and Travelodge’s most successful London hotel in St Swithin’s Lane. Dominvs is set to open a further 145 bedroom “Curio by Hilton” hotel opposite the Cathedral in 2021 whilst the Shiva Group will be launching their 350 bedroom Millennium Bridge Hotel spanning Upper Thames Street.
Landsec developed the widely acclaimed 700,000 sq ft commercial complex at One New Change,EC4 with the offices fully let to occupiers including SMBC Nikko, K&L Gates and CBRE Investors. The 200,000 sq ft retail complex provides 50 shops including the likes of Superdry and Boss plus diverse restaurants and links to Paternoster Square.
West EC4 (part of Midtown) is home to many legal occupiers in part given its adjacency to the Royal Courts of Justice and the Inns of Court including Bird & Bird, Macfarlanes, Taylor Wessing and Charles Russell Speechlys. Major commercial developments include Landsec’s New Street Square (700,000 sq ft) located off New Fetter Lane housing Deloittes. Other significant occupiers include The Law Society, HM Court Service in Rolls Buildings, together with Mizuho and Barings just off Ludgate Hill One of the more intriguing EC4 development proposals is planned with the Corporation of London’s Fleet Street Estate where it is intended to relocate the City of London’s Police HQ and house its counter fraud and cyber-crime operations from 2025 – BBG News Article.
Serviced office and co-working centres in EC4 have availability to match virtually any pocket and style. These range from the likes of Cannon Place to Boutique Workplace’s Carter Lane centre.
BBG’s office is in the centre of the City on the border of EC2 and EC4. Our client list includes a wide variety of investors, developers and occupiers with property interests in EC4.
Contact us for more information on our portfolio of offices to lease in London.
