EG LONDON EMBASSY QUARTERLONDON
EMBASSIES AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENT IN CENTRAL LONDON BY LOCATION (SQ FT)
0.2%
SOUTH BANK 4,468
CITY 6,324
MIDTOWN 333,082
18 % 81.5% Source: Colliers International
it has scope for bespoke buildings and relatively concentrated land ownership – unusual in central London – which plays to that bespoke market. But the announcement by the US embassy was a game changer.“ David Hulme, director of tenant
representation at Colliers International, with a client list that includes a number of diplomatic missions, says Nine Elms offers something appealing to the discrete and detail-obsessed diplomatic mind. “A bespoke building offers real
security benefits for diplomatic occupants. But embassies are very, very particular about what they want – and if they can build it themselves, you are over one big hurdle,” he says. “It takes 10 or 15 years for a diplomatic
quarter to develop – governments and diplomats are slow to take decisions – but it will happen.” However welcome a diplomatic quarter might be, it wasn’t something envisaged in the planning framework for the Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea Opportunity Area adopted by London mayor Boris Johnson in March 2012. The framework sets out an ambition
for around 16,000 new homes and 20,000-25,0000 jobs. Could the arrival of the diplomatic corps mean changes must be made to the mayor’s plan?
OUT OF TOWN EMBASSIES
Not all diplomatic missions are in the golden triangle of Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Belgravia. The North Koreans occupy a semi-detached house in Ealing’s Gunnersbury Avenue, and the Pacific republic of Kiribati is even further off the London map – its offices are in Llanddewi Rydderch, Monmouthshire, South Wales.
WEST END 1,524,921 0.3%
EMBASSY STATS
NETHERLANDS Current embassy 38 Hyde Park Gate, SW7 Size 25,000 sq ft Status Freehold
Other London floorspace None
The plan The Dutch embassy will move from Hyde Park Gate to Nine Elms in 2017. They are expected to occupy around 50,000 sq ft, but final decisions have yet to be made, says Cushman & Wakefield’s Zoe Bignell.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Current embassy 30 Prince’s Gate, SW7 Size Not known Status Leasehold
Other London floorspace
48 Princes Gate, SW7 6 Queen’s Gate Terrace, SW7, and 71 Harley Street, W1 The plan Talking to consultants about
a 30,000 sq ft requirement and looking at Nine Elms. “Still in the early stages,” says an insider.
CHINA
Current embassy 49-51 Portland Place W1 Size 20,000 sq ft Status Freehold
Other London floorspace
31 Portland Place, W1 (8,000 sq ft), 25 Lyndhurst Road, NW3 16 Lancaster Gate, W2 (8,000 sq ft) 11 West Heath Road, NW3 50 Portland Place, W1, and 10 Greville Place, NW6 The plan Consolidate existing properties totalling about 60,000 sq ft. Rumoured to be talking to the Royal Mail about its 13-acre sorting office. Savills’ Simon Stone, who advises on the site, says: “The requirement is genuine, but it’s a bit early to say we’re talking.”
EMBASSIES AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENT BY ORIGIN AND FLOORSPACE ACROSS LONDON
100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450SQ FT (000s)
50 0
Source: Colliers International Taylor thinks not, but concedes that
it could mean less housing and more office floorspace. “I’m not sure they would have much
appetite for a rethink. But landowners can rethink the configuration of the commercial space they are planning – and 25,000 new jobs implies a lot of floorspace. Landowners might think some early office development spreads the risk and begins to generate cash flow,” he says. Simon Stone, head of London
development at Savills, agrees that the tone of development will change without the need for changes to the formal planning frameworks. “Even the biggest embassy
8 June 2013
development is still going to leave plenty of land for residential, although individual sites may need to be rethought. If you lose a couple of blocks of residential to another embassy, is that really a big deal?” he says. “Embassies can be absorbed into what are ever-changing master plans for sites, and local councils will be pleased because it absorbs land that might otherwise be left empty for phased development later.” Diplomatic floorspace in London is
growing – up by 17% since 2009. The new US embassy adds another 400,000 sq ft – equivalent to another 20%. Nine Elms stands a good chance of catching much of this expanding market.
www.estatesgazette.com 39
EUROPE NORTH AMERICA
AFRICA ASIA
MIDDLE EAST AUSTRALASIA
SOUTH AMERICA
CENTRAL AMERICA OTHER
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