Helical is 51% senior partner in a joint venture with TfL’s property company, TTL Properties (49%).
TfL selected Helical as its preferred development partners in February and the two sides have spent the past five months firming up the details.
The partnership will see the delivery of three new commercial office developments at Bank, Paddington and Southwark stations, totalling approximately 600,000 sq ft. All three sites have full planning permission.
The Bank over-station development, above the new station entrance on Cannon Street, will be an eight-storey development, along with a basement, measuring 140,000 sq ft net internal area (NIA) including both office and retail space. It will also have external terraces on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors and a green roof. A start on site is envisaged next year.
The Paddington over-station development, by the Grand Union Canal and close to the new Elizabeth line station at Paddington, is a 19-storey building currently with 235,000 sq ft NIA. It will include a canal side reception and use a ground and air source heat pump system. A start on site is anticipated in 2026.
The Southwark over-station development is a 17-storey hybrid timber building measuring 220,000 sq ft NIA. It will provide a mixture of commercial office space and retail space and have external terraces on most floors. It is expected that construction would start on this in in 2025.
The new joint venture company will purchase leasehold interests in the sites from TfL and establish individual property companies for each of the sites. The sites will then be developed directly by the company, which is to be funded with equity and debt. Other properties and development opportunities may in the future be acquired by the joint venture, expanding the partnership’s portfolio, subject to feasibility and assessment.
Helical property director Matthew Bonning-Snook said: “As more organisations are recognising the important benefits of staff collaborating through being physically together in the office, London faces a shortage of tech enabled, highly sustainable space with excellent amenities. In partnership with TfL, we look forward to delivering an initial 600,000 sq ft of the very best offices in what remains Europe’s pre-eminent financial and cultural centre.”
TfL head of property development Scott Anderson said: “With more people returning to London to work following the pandemic, we look forward to investing in many of central London’s best-connected places to create a portfolio of enjoyable, healthy, innovative, and highly sustainable offices. This new joint venture complements our wider commercial development programme, which will see us deliver thousands of new and affordable homes in London, and generate additional revenues, to help fund a safe, green and reliable public transport network.”
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