Evercore, the boutique investment bank, is in talks for a major headquarters move to one of London's landmark new developments.
The bank launched a search via Colliers over a year ago that could see it leave its Mayfair base of more than a decade. It is based across multiple buildings on Stanhope Gate, near Hyde Park.
CoStar News understands that it has entered talks to move to 105 Victoria Street, a major redevelopment of the former House of Fraser building in London's Victoria.
Welput, the specialist central London office fund managed by BentallGreenOak, recapitalised its ownership of the former House of Fraser and offices at 105 Victoria Street in London and secured a £400 million development finance facility to fund the construction of its proposed redevelopment in 2022. The scheme is one of the largest speculative West End office projects and was Westminster City Council’s single largest commercial building consent in 2021.
The project’s funding coincided with BentallGreenOak’s appointment of Skanska as the main contractor.
The development, to which Welput is attaching a gross development value of £1 billion, reworks the department store and offices on the south side of Victoria Street, and has frontages to Artillery Row, Howick Place and Wilcox Place. Welput bought the building in 2005 for £103 million.
The development will be managed by BGO. Welput has said the 500,000-square-foot building will "not only be operational net zero, but achieve net zero embodied carbon using innovations in ultra-low carbon construction to minimise the carbon intensity of the development such that the carbon emitted will be offset within six years of the new building’s operations in comparison to the retention and refurbishment of the existing building".
According to Welput the building will be the largest all-electric office in the UK, and BGO has committed to the development’s energy being supplied from fully renewable sources, with no gas supply and no diesel generator on site. The building is designed to meet EPC A and WELL Platinum certification and exceed RIBA 2030 sustainability target. It is also the UK’s first office building to target a combined BREEAM Outstanding and 5.5* NABERS rating, the environmental performance rating tool which rates the operational energy use of offices.
Allianz Real Estate, PSP Investments and Welput’s investors will all contribute to the project’s social impact charter, which will have school engagement, volunteering and skills projects.
Designed by architect Kohn Pederson Fox, alongside interior architect Henning Larsen, 105 Victoria Street proposes up to 450,000 square feet of workspace, including 5,500 square feet dedicated to incubator and affordable space, and over 30,000 square feet of retail.
It will also provide almost 30,000 square feet of green space and terracing, reportedly the largest of any commercial building in the West End which will include a 200m "walk and talk" track and an urban farm with community allotments.
CBRE and JLL are commercial leasing agents. Colliers advises Evercore.
All parties declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.