This bank just moved into the Cheesegrater
Lettings in the Cheesegrater, aka the Leadenhall Building, are creeping up: this morning the City's tallest skyscraper announced the newest of its tenants.
Clydesdale Bank has signed a 15-year lease on the 17,300 sq ft 15th floor of the building, British Land and Oxford Properties, which co-own the building, said this morning.
That pushes lettings at the buildings up to 98 per cent – with just one 7,000 sq ft floor (the floor plates shrink as the building rises) available.
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They added that the building is now home to more than 4,800 workers.
There was no word on how much Clydesdale paid. While the bank may have undergone a fairly successful IPO in February this year, but its shareholders might not be impressed when they discover the rents being charged in London's high-rise offices.
Last month research by Knight Frank found rents in the capital's skyscrapers rose faster than any other city in the final six months of last year.
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To be fair, though, London's towers didn't charge the highest rents overall: that accolade belonged the Hong Kong, where the average prime office rent was more than $260 per sq ft – more than twice London's $126 per sq ft.
Meanwhile, those office-hunting in the towers of Frankfurt had a more pleasant experience – rents actually fell, by 1.16 per cent, to just under $56 per sq ft.
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Today Tim Roberts, head of offices and residential at British Land, said after six new tenants signed in 2016, he expected the Cheesegrater to be fully let later this year, "ahead of schedule".
Chris Carter Keall, vice president and head of asset management at Oxford Properties, enthused that Clydesdales decision was a "fantastic endorsement of our leasing strategy". Aaaah.