THREE major new developments in the West End with a combined value ofmore than £400 million are coming from the Crown Estate, as demand for state-of-the art office space transforms the heart of the capital.New Zealand House on Haymarket, one of central London’s 1960s tower blocks, will be the first to get a refresh.The landmark is between Victorian-era theatreland and Pall Mall’s terracesdesigned by John Nash.The overhaul will result in 138,000 square feet of office and hospitalityfacilities with views of the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, aswell as Piccadilly Circus.New Zealand House was the first multi-storey building of its kind to bebuilt in central London after the war and the building has a Grade II listing.Its top floor has views of Buckingham Palace.The Crown Estate, one of London’s biggest landlords, will also update 33 to35 Piccadilly and 10 Spring Gardens just off the Mall. Around 250,000square feet of office leisure and retail space will be created in total across thethree projects worth a combined £430 million. Together, they are the first part of a planned series of schemes to renew central London.It comes amid a post-pandemic trend for companies to locate in areas withstrong cultural and leisure attractions, which are more likely to draw staff back into the workplace, burnishing the appeal of offices in the West End.The wider market for property in the capital has been roiled by the changesset off by Covid and the sudden boom in remote and then hybrid working.Traditional, large-scale office developments are not changing hands.
There has been a sharp lull in the sale of such developments priced above £100 million and there have been none at all in the City, where the biggest deals used to command figures of over £1 billion.Detail on the Crown Estate’s plans emerged at the start of the peak summer tourist season, with schools about to break up, after a record-breakingsummer last year saw US visitors flocking to central London. Adding retail and leisure use to landmark office buildingshelps with tourism, as demarcation lines between business and leisurebecome blurred.The New Zealand House project also includes the Nash-designed Grade Ilisted Royal Opera Arcade, which was the first arcade of its kind in Londonwhen it opened in 1821 and is being fully restored.Simon Harding-Roots, managing director, London at the Crown Estate,said the plans “will deliver muchneeded quality employment space intothe heart of London’s West End”.He added: “They complement major projects such as the extensive improvements we are making to public spaces across Regent Street, Haymarket and Piccadilly Circus with Westminster City Council.”
