European legal firm Travers Smith has agreed to lease a major chunk of a City of London office building that is being redeveloped as new data shows that the central London office leasing market is making a steady recovery from its lockdown lows.

Travers Smith is leasing 158K SF of Stonecutter Court in a 15-year deal. The building is being redeveloped and expanded from 150K SF to 250K SF. It is owned by Canadian investor Ivanhoé Cambridge and German pension fund Allianz, which purchased a 50% stake in the building. The law firm plans to move into the building in 2025.

Cushman & Wakefield said that central London office take-up was 1.8M SF in the second quarter of 2021, the highest figure since March of 2020 before lockdown began and up 39% on the previous quarter.

Cushman added that there is 2.3M SF currently under offer, meaning that Q3 of this year should see a further uptick. The biggest second-quarter transaction in London was actually completed by a real estate firm, with JLL taking 157K SF at British Land and GIC’s 1-2 Broadgate for a new UK HQ.

CO-RE is development manager at Stonecutter Court. BH2 & Knight Frank advised on the leasing deal and Eastdil advised on the creation of the joint venture.