Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed to market 160,000 sq ft of prime office space across floors 1-4, at 80 Strand, London, WC2, otherwise known as Shell Mex House.
The building is located between Adelphi and The Savoy Hotel, with which it forms the ‘Three Sisters’. The landmark grade II listed building was built in 1930s in an elegant and imposing art deco style and is immediately identifiable from the River Thames and the South Bank. Its large clock tower, positioned on the south side of the building, is one of London’s most recognisable sights.
The site was originally the home of Robert Cecil, Queen Elizabeth I’s and James I’s Secretary of State and principal discoverer of the Gunpowder Plot, and has since been the Hotel Cecil, the first headquarters for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and for many years it was the London headquarters of Shell-Mex and BP. Multinational publishing and education company, Pearson, is a major tenant today.
The accommodation, which has some of the largest floorplates in the West End at around 40,000 sq ft per floor, is set for an extensive refurbishment once the lease for the current occupier of floors 1-4, oil and gas giant, Shell, expires in 2020.
Richard Howard, Head of London Leasing at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “This is a rare opportunity for occupiers to acquire a significant amount of top-quality space in an iconic building. The Strand entrance and very large courtyard are to be reimagined and enlivened – in-keeping with a highly significant building that sits between Covent Garden and the South Bank; arguably two of the top five assets of this global city.
“Immediate access to such world-class amenities are doubtless what attracted recent arrivals Spotify, Conde Nast and The Economist, as well as many other top-quality discerning and dynamic occupiers to the area that is increasingly becoming known as ‘Covent Garden Riverside’.”
