160,000 Sq Ft Google Deal Secures Full Office Occupancy For L&G And MEC’s Central Saint Giles

19 May, 2011, London

Google UK Ltd has completed a deal to take 160,000 sq ft at Legal & General Property and Mitsubishi Estate Company’s Central Saint Giles Development in the heart of London’s West End.

The vibrantly coloured Central Saint Giles, designed by Renzo Piano, is an exemplar of excellence in office-led, mixed-use development consisting of 400,000 sq ft of Grade A office space, 56 private apartments, 53 affordable homes and nine new restaurants and café bars arranged around a new courtyard piazza. This latest deal, which is the biggest in central London so far this year, means that the entirety of the office element of the scheme is now let just one year after it was launched.

Google UK is taking office space on the entire fourth, fifth, and ninth floors and part of the third and sixth floors at the building on a ten year lease. Rental details were not disclosed. Some Google UK teams will move to this new space, while others will remain in their existing office space in two buildings on Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria.

Matt Brittin, MD of Google UK, said: "This is a fabulous building and we'll be working hard over the next few months to fit it out in Google style, ready for some of our teams to move later in the year. As well as its size and green credentials, it has the advantage of being even closer to some of our major customers and partners. This is all part of our continued investment in our UK operations, and we're hiring rapidly across all our teams."

Simon Wilkes, Head of Development at Legal & General Property said: “We are delighted to announce that the entire office element of Central Saint Giles is now let. Given the difficult economic circumstances for UK plc, this can only be taken as a tremendous endorsement of our scheme and clear recognition of its attractions as a great place to work.”

MEC’s new UK managing director, Hiroyuki Arimura said: “Paul Finch as chairman of CABE described Central Saint Giles as ‘one of London’s great commercial buildings, setting the standards by which office architecture should be judged’. To now be fully let and to have landed such a strong array of creative and innovative, world leading companies as tenants is a powerful vindication of his judgement.”

Wilkes added: “This is a landmark moment for us and we would like to thank all those involved who have worked on this fantastic scheme. To have so successfully let the building in 12 months is a fitting tribute to all their efforts.”

Cushman & Wakefield and Jones Lang LaSalle advise Central Saint Giles and CBRE acted for Google UK.

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