- What Great Portland Estates has agreed a short-term lease with Knotel at 55 Basinghall Street
- Why The building is due to be redeveloped in 2022
- What next Knotel will operate in the building until December 2021
Great Portland Estates has agreed to lease 82,000 sq ft of space at City Place House at 55 Basinghall Street in the City of London to flexible office provider Knotel.
The 176,000 sq ft building is due to be redeveloped in early 2022 with a planning application due to be submitted in the first half of next year. The REIT said “constructive discussions” were ongoing with the City of London Corporation.
Only around 11,000 sq ft of space in the building is currently vacant with the likes of Legal & General, Accenture and PensionBee all in occupation.
Toby Courtauld, chief executive said “We are delighted to partner with Knotel, further expanding the Group’s flexible space offering which now comprises around 9% of our office portfolio. The new arrangement will maximise our short-term cash flows ahead of our exciting plans for a substantial new-build development on the site.”
Tom Dugarin, UK general manager at Knotel, commented: “As Knotel expands rapidly, it is critical that we partner with owners such as Great Portland Estates. The team at GPE have a deep-seated understanding of the London property market and how a flexible offering can be valuable for established and scaling businesses.
“The GPE team has a significant footprint; this partnership will help ensure that we meet the growing demand for Knotel’s tailored, flexible workspaces. Knotel is the world’s leading flexible workspace provider and has 360,000 sq ft of flexible office provision under management in London, across 22 buildings and 67 spaces.”
