10 Huge Office Towers To Rise In London
UNITED KINGDOM – A government official revealed that ten humongous office buildings are poised to be built in London, reported Fortune magazine on Saturday (7 January, SGT).
Shravan Joshi, Chairman of the Capital’s Planning & Transportation Committee, disclosed that the office properties will offer upscale office space to sectors, such as tech and media as well as the creative industry.
These gargantuan skyscrapers are expected to “change or add” to London’s famous skyline, he said.
More importantly, the hefty investments for the 10 upcoming London office buildings indicates that major companies are shifting their focus back to getting their employees into the office, with new hybrid working patterns emerging.
The fact that real estate developers were willing to pump hundreds of millions of pounds to construct these spacious commercial properties suggests that the days of mostly working from home (WFH) could be nearing its end, opined think tank Centre for Cities’ Director of policy and research, Paul Swinney, who added that large employers prefer workspaces that are close to other prestigious firms.
“In economic terms, corporations like to be clustered together because it gives them easy access to clients and colleagues as well as to their competitors,” which is why global hubs like Manhattan and the City of London are home to numerous major corporations, he explained.
“However, with increasing demand, the land price has gone up which is why businesses and developers have started looking at going taller instead of wider – giving us skyscrapers. That fact that developers have enough confidence to invest in office skyscrapers tells us that they are happy people will return to their desks.”
Aside from that, Joshi shared that some of the upcoming 10 office towers already have secured anchor tenants. Furthermore, statistics from Transport for London showed that the number of people using London Underground, the city’s rapid transit system, has rebounded to near pre-COVID levels.
