Consultant Haleys has been hired by Iranian property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz to work on what is reportedly one of the world’s most expensive office deals.

Tchenguiz’s Consensus Business Group is to move into a building on London’s Park Lane next to the London Hilton.

Haleys will act as QS, employer’s agent, M&E design checker and health and safety auditor on a nine-week refurbishment, which it described as “breakneck”.

The fit-out of the 33,415 sq ft property will cost about £2m. Haleys has assigned a team of four to the job. Operations director Matthew Howard will manage the team and handle the QSing.

A design and build contract is being used and the contractor is Morgan Lovell.

The rent is reportedly record-breakingly high, signalling a wider pick-up in the London speculative office market. Recent research from Drivers Jonas said that speculative building in the capital was up 41% on last year.

It is understood that Consensus will pay £92.50/sq ft for the top two floors. The overall rent is £2.5m a year, which equates to £80/sq ft on the lower floors.

Tchenguiz wants to move in on 9 January 2006. The building at Curzon Square 35 Park Lane is to house 200 of his staff.

Howard said: “The timescale is very ambitious but we are confident we should be able to do it.”

Source

QS News