Former BlackRock City offices set for major redevelopment
PLANS to redevelop BlackRock’s City headquarters into a new 319,000 square feet office block were recommended for approval yesterday, as the latest office block in the Square Mile takes a step closer to construction.
The island site at 33 King William Street on the north side of London Bridge is owned by Topland, the property vehicle of multimillionaire brothers Eddie and Sol Zakay.
The company last year appointed Greycoat CORE, a joint venture between Chris Strickland’s CORE and Peter Thornton’s Greycoat, to work up the plans.
BlackRock vacated the building and moved its new headquarters to Evans Randall’s 292,500 sq ft Drapers Gardens building last year.
John Robertson Architects was brought on last year to design the ten-storey scheme. Jones Lang LaSalle was appointed as the letting agent for the new development.
Yesterday, the City of London’s chief planning officer Peter Rees recommended the scheme before it goes in front of a committee meeting next week. Rees said the plans supported “the strategic objective of promoting the City as the leading international financial and business centre” and “fitted with the character of the area.”
The existing building comprises 230,424 sq ft of office space, with a public house on the ground floor.
The proposed redevelopment would see the current building demolished and turned into a ten-storey building providing 236,761 sq ft of office space, with the City Walkway on the south side of the building closed to the public.
Topland has also applied for the flexibility to provide retail units on King William Street.
The firm has also been heavily investing in the hotel sector and recently acquired the Royal Crescent in Bath from the collapsed Von Essen Group.