British Land, Blackstone break ground on UBS's London HQ

UK REIT British Land and US private equity group Blackstone announced the start of construction on Thursday of their joint development at 5 Broadgate in the City of London.

The project, due to accomodate the new headquarters of Swiss bank UBS, will provide 700,000 sq ft (65,000 m2) of office space over 12 storeys, allowing UBS to consolidate its London trading operations into one building. The scheme is planned for completion in 2014.

5 Broadgate sits at the heart of the Broadgate estate, and comprises 16 buildings incorporating over 4.4 million sq ft of Grade A office, retail and leisure accommodation. Crossrail, which is due to open in 2018, will provide new, high-frequency rail links, making travel to Broadgate even easier and quicker.

British Land's London office portfolio currently comprises more than 7 million sq ft of prime office space located in the City and West End. 'British Land is also on site at five other office developments as part of our £1.1 bn investment in Central London which is creating a total of over 15,000 construction jobs,' commented CEO Chris Grigg.

In addition to 5 Broadgate, the programme incorporates a further five mixed-use and office developments in London, including the 610,000 sq ft Leadenhall Building in London's insurance district, recently chosen by Aon for its global headquarters, and a 500,000 sq ft office and residential scheme at NEQ, Regent’s Place in the West End.