Land Secs sets up JV to develop Walkie Talkie in London

UK REIT Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group announced on Tuesday that they have formed a 50-50 joint venture to develop the 37-storey 'Walkie Talkie' office tower in London. Land Securities has sold the existing property at 20 Fenchurch Street to the joint venture for £90.2 mln (EUR 103 mln). The price is in line with the March 2010 valuation.

The partnership will construct the project in a staged programme at an anticipated total development cost of £500 mln (EUR 569 mln). To enable a condensed programme, construction of the substructure of the building and detailed design of the superstructure will start immediately. Completion to the ground floor level is planned for February 2012 and completion of the entire project is pencilled in for the second quarter of 2014.

The scheme will comprise 64,000 m² of space in floor plate sizes of 1,300 m² to 2,600 m². There will also be a sky-garden on the top three floors. Planning consent for the proposed building was granted in October 2009.

Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group have been appointed as joint development managers and both are responsible for the leasing, with Land Securities taking the lead. Canary Wharf Contractors Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canary Wharf Group, has been appointed as construction manager.

Robert Noel, managing director of Land Securities' London Portfolio, said: 'Earlier this year we announced our intention to carry out this project in joint venture and we are delighted to have teamed up with Canary Wharf Group to do so. The joint venture brings together two substantial companies with complementary skills in the conception and delivery of large schemes in London. The transaction allows us to take forward other projects within our substantial development pipeline in London so that we offer a range of building types and sizes in a range of locations across the capital.'