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Bank of America has appointed JLL to advise on potential options for a new central London HQ in what could be one of the biggest office moves in the London capital for the past decade.
BofA is mulling options ahead of a lease expiry in 2032, Green Street News reported. It currently occupies all 585K SF at 2 King Edward Street, which is owned by Norges Bank Investment Management, near St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London.
BofA is looking for about 500K SF, though it could end up staying in its current location, Green Street reported.
The bank is reviewing its options so far ahead of time because there are few schemes that could accommodate a requirement of that size and even fewer with planning permission in place. That means any new office might need to go through the planning and construction process, which can take well over five years.
The building at 2 King Edward Street was originally occupied by Merrill Lynch, which BofA bought in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. BofA examined its options in 2017 as well but decided to extend a lease that was expiring in 2022. Norges bought the building for £583M in 2014.
In 2023, HSBC agreed to lease 556K SF at the Panorama building, owned by Orion Capital, opposite 2 King Edward Street. That was the largest London office leasing deal for six years and was ahead of a lease expiry in 2027.
Central London office leasing is doing well in a world of office uncertainty. In the third quarter, 2.6M SF was leased, 21% more than the previous quarter and 1% above the 10-year average.
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