McLaren set to seal £90m London Bridge office
31/8/23
Seal House scheme has been on drawing board for at least 15 years
McLaren is tipped to land a long-standing plan to turn a 1970s Thameside block near London Bridge called Seal House into a new office.
The firm is understood to have edged ahead of remaining rival ISG for the deal which has a value of around £90m. An earlier pitch from Wates was tailed off last month.
Plans by Eric Parry Architects for original developer Sellar were given the green light in 2019 but that year Sellar sold its interest to Luxembourg-based investor MiddleCap.
Sellar is staying on as development manager with MiddleCap, meaning the scheme now has two development managers, with the scheme being developed with PPF Real Estate.
The 11-storey scheme includes plans for 131,000 sq ft of offices, 10,000 sq ft of restaurants, external terraces and a rooftop public viewing garden.
Seal House is next to the grade II* Fishmongers' Hall and will replace a seven-storey block by William Holford & Partners.
Others working on the deal at 1 Swan Lane at the northern end of London Bridge include project manager Turner & Townsend, QS Gardiner & Theobald and building and structural services engineer WSP.
The current building is linked to Fishmongers' Hall and the new scheme would provide a replacement link.
Work to overhaul Seal House has been around 15 years in the making. Eric Parry was brought in by Sellar to replace previous proposals for the site by David Chipperfield which won planning in 2009, after they were tweaked following an earlier knock-back because of the impact on views.
Source; Building