Scheme at 55 Old Broad Street is now being bankrolled by Ashby Capital with Landsec kept on as development manager
Skanska has been given a start date for its scheme build a new office in the City at 55 Old Broad Street.
Keltbray is close to completing demolition at the site after beginning work earlier this year following a funding deal Landsec agreed with partner Ashby Capital, a private equity firm specialising in real estate, at the end of last year.
Landsec has been retained as development manager for the 23-storey scheme which has been designed by Fletcher Priest.
The plan, which was given the green light in November 2023, involves replacing a 1970s-built block, which had included a pub and bank at street level, with 270,000sq ft of office space.
Skanska picked up the job under a PCSA earlier last year with the firm now given a start date of October with the £282m scheme due to finish in late 2029. Skanska will also carry out M&E work as well as fit-out.
It will also carry out a refurbishment of a nearby grade II-listed Bishopsgate Victorian bath house as well as the refurbishment 65 Old Broad Street, next door to 55.
News that work is starting is a fillip for the London commercial market with the scheme having been delayed after Landsec said it was scaling back the amount of offices it was going to build.
Tom Smithers, property director at Ashby Capital, said: “This scheme will create high-quality, sustainable space that meets the evolving needs of occupiers, while enhancing the wider public realm and bringing new energy to this part of London.
“At Ashby Capital, we focus on delivering design-led buildings that combine strong environmental performance with outstanding amenity, and we look forward to working closely with Skanska and Landsec to bring forward 55 Old Broad Street.”
Skanska’s executive vice president Lee Marks, who is charge of the firm’s building business, added: “This development will create high-quality, future-ready workspace in an exceptionally well-connected commercial district. We are proud to be partnering with Ashby Capital and bringing Skanska’s specialist expertise to a scheme of this scale and significance.”
M&E consultant Atelier Ten, structural engineer Heyne Tillett Steel, project manager Turner & Townsend are all part of the project team.
Landsec paid £87m for 55 Old Broad Street in 2020, saying at the time that redeveloping the 10-storey building would result in a “compelling best-in-class destination” over the medium term.
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