New joint venture for office development project

International real estate group Lendlease, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) have expressed a vote of confidence in the London office market through the establishment of a new 50:50 joint venture partnership dedicated to the development of a new office-led neighbourhood at International Quarter London (IQL).

This partnership further builds upon Lendlease and CPP Investments’ existing joint ventures, which include established projects at Elephant Park in London, Barangaroo in Sydney, Australia and the Milano Innovation District, Italy.

The partnership has initially committed to developing the Turing Building, allocating approximately £215 million from the joint venture. The Turing Building is one of four major new office buildings planned for IQL, together they are expected to provide a total development area of 1.6m square feet when fully developed, with an estimated gross development value of approximately £1.5bn.

IQL is located at the gateway of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and benefits from proximity to amenities within the Olympic Park itself as well as the Westfield Stratford shopping centre and the new leisure, culture and higher education offer at the East Bank development and surrounding area. Stratford has continued to transform into a vibrant hub for creative industry, innovation and business in East London; with unrivalled transport links into Central London as well as several airports.

Construction on the Turing Building, which has been designed by award winning architects Arney Fender Katsalidis, is expected to begin in early 2022. Once complete, it will provide 350,000 square feet of flexible Grade A workspace, retail space and a boutique cinema.

IQL is already home to world-class institutions such as Transport for London, Cancer Research UK, the British Council and Unicef. It is part of SHIFT, London’s newest innovation district, focusing on finding answers to the real, every-day problems facing citizens and cities.

Sustainable design is at the heart of IQL, in line with Lendlease’s goal of becoming a 1.5°C aligned company and the business’ Mission Zero targets of net zero carbon by 2025 and absolute zero by 2040. The Turing Building has been awarded BREEAM Outstanding in design stage, and is targeting WELL Gold and EPC A ratings. It has also been selected as a pilot project for NABERS UK, a new measure of energy performance 'in operation'.

Bek Seeley, Managing Director, Development, Lendlease Europe: “Following a challenging year, with Covid-19 bringing uncertainty to economies across the globe, this deal is a real vote of confidence in future workplaces and London’s office market more broadly. The Turing Building will bring market-leading, flexible workspace to Stratford, sitting alongside cultural heavyweights East Bank, UCL and Here East.

“Sustainability and innovation are at the core of everything we do, and we will be working closely with CPP Investments, and other partners, to develop spaces at IQL where businesses can collaborate, create and grow, surrounded by 560 acres of parkland and waterways.”

Tom Jackson, Managing Director, Head of U.K. Real Estate, CPP Investments: “IQL is an excellent opportunity to further our existing global relationship with Lendlease. This relationship extends to several joint ventures globally and we are delighted to undertake our second partnership here in the U.K., bringing further investment and development activity to London. Stratford is one of the city’s fastest growing sub-markets, with fantastic transport links, over 500 acres of green space, Olympic quality sports facilities and growing culture, leisure and higher education facilities.

“IQL’s supply of Grade A office space with strong sustainability credentials, will help service current and growing tenant demand for this sub-market. Our partnership with Lendlease forms part of our strategy to align with best-in-class delivery partners and our wider commitment to deliver steady, long-term returns for CPP contributors and beneficiaries.”