Office and business space

Office and business space

In today’s dynamic real estate landscape, navigating the office and business space sector requires agility and insight.

With tenant demands for connectivity and flexibility, finance costs having increased and sustainability regulations tightening, many traditional office spaces are becoming stranded assets, challenging landlords and tenants alike. However, this shift also opens doors to innovative solutions and new opportunities.

Whether it’s developing and letting high-quality office space, acquiring and refurbishing/repurposing stranded office spaces to meet sustainability standards or exploring office-to-residential conversions, our market leading team provide the expertise and strategic guidance to maximise your investments.

The rise of office-to-residential conversions

The trend of converting office spaces to residential units is gaining momentum, driven by the pressing need for housing and the challenges of leasing outdated office buildings. These conversions have the potential to compliment traditional house-building in addressing the housing shortage whilst also revitalising underutilised properties, creating vibrant, mixed-use communities. However, it is not without risk.

Contact us today to discover how we can help you navigate the evolving office and business space sector. Together, we can unlock the full potential of your real estate investments.

Key experience

Barwood Capital Eton House, Richmond

Forsters acted for Barwood Capital in connection with their sustainable refurbishment of a 45,000 sq ft office space in the heart of Richmond. With health and wellbeing prioritised through the development, the site includes amenities such as cycle parking spaces, a communal lounge and a gym. ESG also remained at the core of the scheme with many biodiversity and energy efficiency initiatives being implemented and achieved, such as Net Zero in operation, WiredScore Gold, Fitwel 2* certifications and targeting EPC A and a BREEAM Excellent rating. The site reached practical completion in June 2024 and provides high quality office accommodation for the South East market.

Heal's Building, Tottenham Court Road

Forsters acted on behalf of KKR and General Projects for the reconfiguration and refurbishment of the grade II listed Heal’s building, on Tottenham Court Road, in the heart of London’s West End. The reconfiguration resulted in the Heal’s department store relocating to occupy the whole of the building’s ground and lower ground retail space, with a transformation of the upper parts into new contemporary workspaces – as well as the transformation of a 200-year-old dispatch area for the department store into a new communal entrance, fronted by a street level café and bar. A sensitive refurbishment, the offices boast the history of the building while matching its existing character with modern fixtures and fittings.

Berners Street and Wells Street

Forsters is acting for abrdn and Schroders in connection with the development of a 55,000 sq ft office scheme at 58/60 Berners Street and 14/17 Wells Street, London W1. The sites will serve as a reconfiguration of two buildings to provide new-build office space across eight-storeys within the heart of Fitzrovia. In addition, ground floor units will consist of mixed retail, restaurants and financial services companies. The development agreement has been entered into with the freeholder, Berners-Allsopp Estate, and Schroders Fund was granted a 125 geared leasehold interest on practical completion in August 2023.

Cubex

We are acting for the developer, developing the HQ office premises of Osborne Clarke in Bristol. We acted for the developer in relation to the agreement for lease entered into with Osborne Clarke as the tenant and on the disposal of the asset and forward funding agreement entered into with the funder, Tesco Pension Fund. We provided real estate and construction advice in respect of the delivery of the works and the 116,000 sq ft office building, “HALO”, achieved practical completion in November 2022. The building has been constructed to a specification which delivers one of the greenest offices in the UK.

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