AHMM's Blackfriars scheme to go ahead

Construction of the £70m office scheme for 240 Blackfriars Road, London will commence this month after Building’s publisher, UBM, today confirmed it will sign a 15-year lease for the new building.

The 20-storey building, being developed by a joint venture between Great Portland Estates and Ropemaker Properties, has been designed by architect Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and will provide 237,000 ft² of space, including 223,000 ft² of offices, a small amount of retail and ten private apartments in an adjacent building.

UBM has signed up to 105,648 ft² of the building, paying £4.9m a year with a hree-year rent-free period, taking the top nine floors. UBM will itself fit out the building, receiving a £6m contribution from Great Portland Estates to take it from shell condition to category “A” fit-out.

Jackson Coles is project managing the scheme, with AKT II structural engineers and Hilson Moran services engineers.

Neil Thompson, portfolio director of GPE said, “240 Blackfriars Road will be a prominent, high quality building of outstanding design which will help to continue the regeneration of this part of the Southbank. We look forward to working with UBM to build for them a world class UK headquarters building.”

Richard Bowers, head of estate management at UBM said ” We look forward to occupying such a prominent and impressive landmark building, which we intend to fit out to a high standard to create a vibrant collaborative and productive environment maintaining our long term future to this location.”