Oxford Street's Department Store-To-Office Conversions Fill Up

A U.S. law firm is close to leasing 110K SF at the former Fenwick department store just off Oxford Street, as schemes that are converting defunct department stores to offices start to bear fruit.

McDermott Will & Emery is in advanced talks with Lazari Investments, the private investor that owns a big chunk of the West End, to lease the office space at the Fenwick building on Bond Street, Green Street News reported. 

Department stores on and around the famous Oxford Street retail thoroughfare are being either shrunk down and repurposed or entirely converted to offices as retail spending patterns make all but the best department stores obsolete. 

A total of 1M SF of new office space is being created through these conversions. 

In July, accountancy firm BDO leased 220K SF at the M Building, a redevelopment of the former Oxford Street flagship Debenhams store, which is being undertaken by Ramsbury, the investment company of the family that founded H&M. 

Marks & Spencer and John Lewis are adding offices to their Oxford Street stores, and a former House of Fraser store is also being converted.

At Fenwick, McDermott is paying an average rent of £182.50 per SF, including £200 per SF on the best space in the building, Green Street reported. Rents have been rising in the West End for two years as new supply has been constrained.

Lazari paid Fenwick £425M for the 136-year-old Bond Street store in 2023. The amount of retail space was reduced from 132K SF to 50K SF on the ground floor, and the amount of office space was increased from 25K SF to 175K SF. The conversion commenced last year.