Nabarro heads east with City HQ move confirmed
Nabarro has confirmed its move into new offices at 125 London Wall for November 2014.
Simon Johnston
The firm has been in negotiations as the clock ticked down on its current lease at Theobald’s Road in Holborn.
The move to a new City headquarters is Simon Johnston’s last major project as senior partner as he stands down this month, three years earlier than planned (13 September 2012).
Nabarro has signed the agreement of lease, which the firm said will secure its property needs until 2025. As part of the deal landlord JPMorgan is carrying out an extensive refurbishment of the building designed by globally renowned British architect Sir Terry Farrell.
The firm said it will also be commissioning comprehensive interior design work on the 130,000 square feet it is taking on - around a third of the space in the building - to create a high specification, modern working environment.
The firm is believed to be paying in the region of £46 per square foot for the property.
Johnston said: “This is an outstanding property and an outstanding deal for Nabarro.
“We’re delighted to have secured the future property needs of the firm and to have found a City HQ which reflects our client base and increasingly international ambitions.
“I’m also delighted that, working closely with JPMorgan, we’ll create a working environment that will be a tremendous place for our staff to work in and our clients to visit.”
Nabarro was advised on the deal by a Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer team led by real estate partner Christopher Morris. JPMorgan was advised by a Linklaters team led by real estate partner Andy Bruce.
At the start of the year, CMS Cameron McKenna made a U-turn on similar plans to move into new EC2 headquarters at Principal Place.
CMS had been in talks with property developer Hammerson to move from its existing base in Mitre House, Aldersgate Street, as its lease expires in 2015 (16 January 2012).
Senior partner Dick Tyler cited unstable market conditions at the time.
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Readers' comments (15)
Anonymous | 28-Dec-2012 7:24 am
Out of the frying pan, into the fire. So Nabarro have finally managed to exit the (completely duff) management decision to move from the west end in 1999 to land in the total dump that is Theobalds Rd. But to go where? Another dump. "Outstanding Property"? Who are you kidding Mr Johnston? JP Morgan exited this second hand space years ago and no-one in the market would touch it. And in the middle of the worst recession in a generation, where most savvy tenants are stealing great deals, that so called 'leading property firm' Nabarro have managed to overpay by a mile. £46 a foot? Good deal? Do me a favour. This firm will not survive in its current form.
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Anonymous | 2-Jan-2013 1:58 pm
I see the disgruntled former employee that posts under every single Nabarro article with negative comments has had his say. I was waiting for that one. Next...
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Anonymous | 2-Jan-2013 5:27 pm
Even those of us who have never worked for Nabarro can clearly see that this building is hideous, badly located and hardly cheap.
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Anonymous | 2-Jan-2013 11:05 pm
Nabarro PR machine needs to do better than that. Not a particularly robust defence. The points havent been dealt with.
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Anonymous | 3-Jan-2013 2:51 pm
They could have done a lot better than that... They looked at this building as alternate to Lacon House. Having said that they are next door to Linklaters and Slaughter and May who both occupy equally dreary buildings and unlike most of the firms who located to swanky new offices they will not be desperately to offload space to account for the new realities
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Anonymous | 3-Jan-2013 3:21 pm
How is being close to Links and Slaughters relevant? They have excellent buildings and took them years ago at a smart/low rent (and Link recently re-geared their lease on the same basis). There are council flats not much more than a stone's throw from Eaton Square - but I dont want to live in one of them (although at least I'd be paying a sensible rent). The point is, Nabarro had a vast array of buildings to look at, and chose an expensive dog. What does that say about the decision makers there? Why not choose a building you might actually want to (and can afford to) stay in for 20 rather than 10 years?
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Anonymous | 3-Jan-2013 5:32 pm
A departing Partner (and therefore one who might have a negative view of things) told me he had looked at the terms and that it was a sensible move being made on good terms.
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Anonymous | 4-Jan-2013 0:12 am
So you wanted them to go for a swankier building, but for less money? Well I'm sure they never thought of any of these things and just plumped for the nearest available space... And you also think they should be looking longer term, but have in previous articles complained about their lack of merger? Your opinion is clearly uninformed and driven by bitterness or boredom. Trolling, some call it.
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Anonymous | 4-Jan-2013 12:38 pm
Were Nabarros lured east by the promise of a cat cafe?
http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2013/01/04/meow-thats-a-good-idea-cat-cafe-to-open-in-east-london/
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Anonymous | 4-Jan-2013 1:24 pm
Never thought of that. Hey, Anon at 0:12 - why so prickly? Get some sleep instead of being so grumpy (blogging after midnight is clearly not good for you). No-one suggested 'swanky or expensive', just a decent building in a good location at a sensible rent in the current market. Who recommend a building that achieved none of these? So you didnt take a 20 year lease because you want to be attractive to a merger partner? Good luck with that.
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