Kings Cross, pound for pound Tech City’s best location. Three months ago I met with a new client searching for 6,000 sqft of office space in Central London’s Tech City. Their headquarters are in Bristol and as a consequence of their recent successes they were seeking additional office space in what would be their first office space in Central London. As a software company it was important to them that their new London office in Tech City was modern, secure, in a building and surrounding area which would help them create the right working atmosphere and vibe for their workforce, and great transport links to ensure that their recruitment pool for this new venture was as widespread as possible.
Having attended the Silicon Milk Roundabout recruitment fair earlier in the year, my clients founding directors swiftly fell in love with London’s Tech City and they were very keen to find an office based in the heart of Old Street and Shoreditch. To their astonishment prime rents in Shoreditch (which have more than doubled in recent years) were being quoted at £45 to £50 per square foot, for office stock which was often in poor condition, no air conditioning, lifts, or building reception service in what in their minds is historically and is very much a second rate, fringe London location. Despite being open to surrounding areas their number one priority was to setup an office in the Tech City area. At was at this juncture that our paths crossed and I had the opportunity to advise them on Tech City and its boundaries in London as district (as defined by the property team at Tech City UK). They were pleasantly surprised to learn that London’s Tech City is in fact a much larger geographical area than Shoreditch, and that it actuals stretches from Kings Cross right the way down and East to the Fintech community in the docklands and new retail and office developments as far East as Silvertown. With this in mind they proceeded onto numerous viewings with us in the Kings Cross area and it was immediately clear to them that Kings Cross was an extremely desirable location due to the completion of several new purpose built developments that had opened in recent times offering first class high quality office accommodation in buildings with bike storage, underground parking, gym services, showers, and coffee shops and retail.
They agreed with our assessment that Kings Cross offers occupiers terrific value for money in comparison to other sub-markets across the Tech City district, which often have inferior buildings in terms of quality and amenities, but this disparity is not reflected in the actual price per square foot. They also took great comfort in the fact that the likes of Google and Facebook were planting their long term London roots in the area. They moved into their new office which is just a 3 minute walk to Kings Cross Station at the start of January 2015 on a 10 year lease with a 5 year break option at £42.50 per square foot.
If you are considering office space in Kings Cross then please e-mail emma@kingscrossofficespace.co.uk for help with your search.