Midtown ups the ante

There are many factors at play in Midtown’s rising popularity. One of them is the range of properties and the corresponding range of businesses they are able to serve. 

Examples include High Holborn House and Caroline House adjacent to it. Both have been acquired by the Blackstone Group, with the former offering space to multiple small occupiers and the latter aimed at attracting one occupier to the newly refurbished 14,000 square feet. 

The larger space, High Holborn House, is already decked out with a combination of urban and industrial fittings and flooring, contrasting with luxurious décor and textiles. The Blackstone Group see this as not only typifying the new Midtown, but representing what tenants coming to the area want. 

Midtown is becoming popular with a wide range of sectors, resulting in a variety of occupiers and a diverse and vibrant daytime population. Creatives, professionals, lawyers and financiers are all finding themselves relocated to the area, which will itself benefit from proximity to the Farringdon Crossrail due to open in 2018. 

Blackstone Group acquired nine properties in the High Holborn Estate as part of its acquisition of Max Property Group in August of this year. High Holborn house is largely tenanted with ongoing refurbishment due to be completed in January next year. 

The offices, which have a ‘boutique’ feel, will offer spaces from 3,000 to 8,000 square feet and will offer something more unique than is found in more identikit serviced offices, while aiming at a similar market. There will be designed common areas, plus a roof terrace to attract potential occupiers to the rest of the building. The combination of high-spec and flexible terms have worked well to attract occupiers so far. 

Two more of the nine properties are set to be ready in 2016 and 2017 and will be fully refurbished beforehand. 

This article was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.