HSBC Global Headquarters
Address
81 Newgate Street, EC1
Pella are the Development Manager for the 1.6 acre, freehold, island site next to St Pauls Cathedral.
We found this opportunity and introduced it to a Private Equity investor and carried out the first appraisal in 2018. We assembled the entire team from scratch.
We achieved planning permission for a transformed and repurposed commercial building of circa 810,000 sq. ft. GIA being mainly office led (525,000 sq.ft. offices NIA) plus retail, restaurant and leisure.
Resolution to grant planning consent was achieved in 1 year, following acquisition in June 2020 with an 96% uplift in NIA increasing to 591,709 sq ft. adjacent to the sensitive St. Paul’s Cathedral. 4 extra floors were added and best in class sustainability credentials.
Pella conceived the idea of creating a new public square between the western boundary of the building and the old Greyfriars Church to create a once in a lifetime new pedestrianised space which completely transforms the setting of the building. We began lobbying the City of London in 2020 to prove this was technically possible and finally achieved approval 3 years later.
The entire building has been successfully pre-let to HSBC in November 2023.
Timeline
October 2018: Pella introduces the project to an investor & carries out the first Appraisal
July 2019: Exchanged Contracts to acquire
July 2020: Resolution to grant planning consent achieved
September 2020: s.106 signed & planning consent issued
February 2022: BT vacate offices & Mace commence construction on site
June 2023: Heads of Terms agreed with HSBC to pre-let the entire building.
June 2023: Approval achieved at the City Of London’s Court of Common Council for the creation of the new public Greyfriars Square to the west of the building which included the closing up / pedestrianisation of the southern end of King Edward Street.
September 2023: Amended planning consent achieved
November 2023: HSBC sign Agreement for Lease to pre-let the entire building
April 2025: Completion due
John Bushell – Design Principal, KPF Architects
“At 81 Newgate Street, Pella initially introduced the project to the capital investor and assembled the professional team. They worked closely and creatively with us to transform the building and had the foresight to negotiate with the City of London to achieve an exceptional planning consent in record time doubling the net lettable area, which included 4 additional floors very close to the sensitive St.Paul’s heights. Pella also originated many of the creative ideas including extending the west basement and inspirationally persuading the City to create a new public square on the west side of the building as big as Granary Square at Kings Cross and thereby completely transforming the setting of the new building.
They have always led from the front. Some of our best work as Architects has been done with Pella.”