Major Refurbishment of 199 Bi

RNS Number : 0188W

British Land Co PLC

12 November 2010

 



British Land and Blackstone to Undertake Major Refurbishment of 199 Bishopsgate

The British Land Company PLC ("British Land") and Blackstone Group ("Blackstone") announce that Bluebutton Properties ("Bluebutton"), their joint venture company, is to undertake the major refurbishment of 199 Bishopsgate, EC2, with delivery of 142,000 sq ft of high quality office accommodation planned for the end of 2012.

The majority of the building was originally let to ABN AMRO and is now occupied by The Royal Bank of Scotland plc ("RBS") following its takeover in 2007.  RBS has agreed to extend its lease, which expired in August 2010, until March 2011 providing the joint venture with additional income whilst it progresses its plan for refurbishment. 

A planning application for the scheme, which has been designed by JRA Architects, will be submitted this month.  Refurbishment of the 142,000 sq ft building located opposite the Broadgate estate's newest buildings, 201 Bishopsgate and The Broadgate Tower, is expected to start in summer 2011 with a total cost of around £35 million.

The decision to refurbish the building follows the joint venture's recent agreement to develop 5 Broadgate, a new 700,000 sq ft building for occupation by UBS, and is in line with its on-going strategy of investing in Broadgate to provide modern world-class accommodation in the City's premier London office estate.  

Tim Roberts, Head of Offices, said: "This is an exciting opportunity to upgrade the building, and estate, whilst generating an attractive development return.  When completed, 199 Bishopsgate will provide high quality office space at a time where supply is expected to be severely limited."

Enquiries:

Media

Pip Wood, British Land                                                           020 7467 2838

Guy Lamming, Finsbury Group                                               020 7251 3801

Gordon Simpson, Finsbury Group

Investor Relations

Sally Jones, British Land                                                         020 7467 2942

 

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