Taiwanese insurance giant Fubon Life Insurance Company and developer Fabrix are set to take their refurbishment of Bow Bells House in the City of London to full occupancy with a circa 75,000-square-foot prelet of the bottom three floors, CoStar News can reveal.
Market sources this week said Fora, the Blackstone and Brockton Capital-owned flexible offices group, is set to sign at the 145,000-square-foot scheme on the corner of Cheapside and Bread Street, close to St Paul's. CoStar News revealed last year that legal services firm Bristows was to relocate its headquarters from the Unilever Building at 100 Victoria Embankment in Blackfriars, where it occupied around 60,000 square feet, to 70,000 square feet on the top four floors of the building, which includes over 8,000 square feet of landscaped terraces.
At the time of that prelet Fabrix described that move as a major vote of confidence in the retrofit approach of the development, which has just completed. Taiwanese insurance giant Fubon Life Insurance Company bought the freehold interest in the building for £185 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 4.51%, in 2014.
The all-electric building includes access to a dedicated roof terrace and business lounge on the fifth floor, as well as a communal terrace overlooking St Mary-le-Bow church. The redevelopment has decarbonised the building’s mechanical and electrical systems.
Knight Frank and Newmark are the office agents for the development.
London-based value-add specialist Fabrix was appointed in early 2025 as development and leasing manager for the redevelopment. In collaboration with Patrizia – Fubon’s strategic investment manager for its European portfolio – the focus has been on repositioning the building as a core office asset. Originally designed by David Walker Architects and completed in 2008, Fabrix appointed contractor Ikon.
Flexible offices group Fora presently has a network of 62 buildings across central London. The Fora platform was created via a merger between Brockton Capital’s Fora and Blackstone's The Office Group in 2022. With the reduction of rival WeWork's portfolio, it is comfortably central London's largest operator by locations under one brand.