Companies are still happy to pay a premium for best-in-class office space despite the looming downturn, the boss of one of London’s biggest developers has said.
Great Portland Estates agreed a record number of new leases over the summer – and at dearer rents than it had expected. It signed £16.7 million of new annual rent between April and September at an average 4.4 per cent ahead of its estimates in the spring.
This week the landlord struck its largest ever letting when Clifford Chance, the “magic circle” law firm, agreed to take all of 2 Aldermanbury Square at a cost of £24.7 million a year.
“Brand new spaces in London have been leasing at record speed,” Toby Courtauld, chief executive, said.
Great Portland Estates