The Office Group is on the cusp of
signing a deal to lease three floors at Derwent London’s White Collar Factory
scheme - in what will be the first letting at the £200m speculative office
development.
The serviced office provider will go
under offer to take around 40,000 sq ft at the 16-storey building located at
the Old Street interchange, or ‘silicone roundabout’.
White Collar Factory, which is at the
heart of the government’s vision for a ‘tech city’ stretching from the City
fringe to the Olympic Park, is already home to a cluster of entrepreneurial TMT
firms. The deal will be a major fillip for Derwent London, which pressed ahead
with the speculative development of the 267,000 sq ft building, starting on
site in January 2014.
The scheme is due to complete in late
2016 and is being built on the south-western curve of Old Street roundabout.
Designed by AHMM, it is clustered around a new public courtyard, and comprises
an additional five low-rise buildings offering 39,200 sq ft of workspace as
well as three restaurants.
Earlier this year, The Office Group
signed up for 34,000 sq ft at another Derwent London scheme, at the revamped 2
Stephen Street near Tottenham Court Road in the West End.
As part of that deal, Derwent London
will receive a share of The Office Group’s profits on the space above a
threshold level in return for a capital contribution of £1.8m. It is thought a
similar deal will be struck between the two at White Collar Factory.
Cushman & Wakefield, Pilcher
Hershman and DTZ are letting agents on White Collar Factory. The Office Group
was unrepresented. All parties declined to comment.