Japanese investor Obayashi Properties UK's plans for a £500 million, 36-storey tower redevelopment of German insurer Allianz's nine-storey home in the City of London are being recommended for approval by planners ahead of a City of London planning committee meeting this Friday (6 December).
The site at 60 Gracechurch Street is home to a 9-storey building with 2 basement levels comprising 16,158 square metres (174,000 square feet) with shops on the ground level and offices on the upper floors. The new scheme would comprise 652,702 square feet (60,638 square metres) of floor space and proposes 559,882 square feet (52,012 square metres) of offices which the planning documents say could house 3,295 City workers
The plans would see the current building demolished, retaining the existing basement, replaced by a new building with basement levels and ground floor plus 36 upper storeys. It would be predominately offices with shops and cafes, and a free publicly accessible area at level 35, including a roof garden and a learning space.
A consultation process on the planning application began in July 2024 for 30 days. There were subsequent revisions to the set back of the western bay of the proposed east elevation to separate that part of the proposed tower from the party wall, and updates to the initial submission documents, including the Environmental Statement.
Backing the proposals ahead of this week's City planning committee meeting, planners say: "The proposal would be a striking new addition to the City Cluster and would be of a dynamic and distinctive architectural character, with full details of its innovative ‘fin’ façade system to the south and-east areas of the tower facades secured through condition and section 106 obligation."
OPUK, which also owns Bracken House and a majority stake in 20 Gracechurch Street, bought 60 Gracechurch Street in March 2023 as part of its stated commitment to investing in the UK.
It bought it from Germany's KGAL Investment Management for around £150 million. The office was built in 1997. It was modernised in 2010 before KGAL bought it for one of its closed-end real estate funds for £116 million.
The 13-storey building is home to German insurer Allianz on a lease running out in 2026. KGAL’s asset management team drew up an initial feasibility study for a high-rise £450 million development of more than 30 storeys, which was prepared by architect PLP.
Sellar, the development and investment company, has been enlisted to work on the plans with OPUK. It is developing Seal House, an office building on the riverside 300 metres from 60 Gracechurch Street, and has recently completed a landmark office development at Paddington Square adjacent to one of London’s busiest transport hubs.
There has been a drop in new London office construction starts and delivered projects, as well as a dip in refurbishment starts to below the level of new builds for the first time in four-and-a-half years, as reported.
According to the winter edition of Deloitte's London Office Crane Survey, which collected data between April and September 2024, there were 3.7 million square feet of new office construction starts across 29 schemes, a 12% decrease in volume compared with the previous survey. The figure remains above the 10-year average of 3.4 million square feet.