Bradley Baker to make occupiers CORE to London projects

After nearly 30 years’ working for Knight Frank’s central London office team, Bradley Baker left the agency world this week to bring his occupier expertise to developer CORE. The former head of central London tenant representation at Knight Frank has been appointed senior equity director as part of a plan to bring a more occupier-focused approached to the development partner, which has worked on more than 11m sq ft of London office space since it was founded in 2000 by chairman Chris Strickland, chief executive David Ainsworth [main picture with Baker] and director Julian Vickery. The partnership was formed after Baker represented M&G on the pre-let of 325,000 sq ft at CORE and Generali Real Estate’s 1 Fen Court, EC3. Baker says going into development has been “a long held ambition”. However, he says the complex transaction at 1 Fen Court, which involved an element of site assembly and vacant possession “sparked something” to say, “right, let’s do this.” Baker got his first taste of development from his father who was a small developer, but he went down the surveying route, first working at Jones Lang Wootton before joining Knight Frank 29 years ago. He spent the first half of his career leasing properties and the second half acting for major occupiers at Knight Frank, which was one of the first agencies to introduce a team dedicated exclusively to tenant representation. Occupier focus The biggest change he witnessed in the agency world over that time was an increased focus on the occupier. Now he hopes to use that experience and his contact-book of agents and occupiers to help deliver and market the best office buildings. “I think the occupier and what they want has changed a lot and they’re far more demanding, they’re more in the driving seat than they have been,” Baker says. What does today’s occupier want? Baker says the driver for most decisions he has seen is “a serious focus on attracting the best talent and retaining the best talent.” He adds: “I think sometimes people can underestimate how much a good building can really transform the way that a business comes across. A building is a great visual opportunity to promote a brand, what it’s all about, its character.” The other primary demand is “absolute flexibility on how long they stay”, Baker says. “I think in an ideal world, most occupiers would love to have the opportunity to just leave a building as it is, broom swept, not get done for dilapidations…It’s cost and the flexibility to take more space and also to let go of space.” One demand Baker thinks is underestimated by developers is the importance occupiers place on the “deliverability” of buildings. “If anything gets in the way of the deliverability, that is an issue,” Baker says. “I think that’s where occupiers really do look for the development team to have shown and illustrate a track record of where they’ve dealt with complex issues and reacted intelligently to them to overcome those issues.” A key part of Baker’s new role will be to speak to occupiers early about requirements which could lead to off market development opportunities. He says occupiers are planning further ahead than they have done previously because overall there’s a lack of stock in central London. “It doesn’t have to be a huge occupier, 50,000-60,000 sq ft occupiers are looking three years’ ahead because they can see what’s coming out of the ground,” Baker says. “That means that the likes of M&G are engaging before a spade’s gone into the ground.” For CORE, Baker’s expertise will help develop the commercial side of the business so that it relates as closely as possible to the end user. “The partners we work with are all about risk,” Ainsworth says. “The leasing risk is one of those things that especially in 2018, moving forward, is a really big priority for investors, so when they are looking at value add or looking at empty buildings or looking at sites, that expertise coming in as closely as possible from day one can give people confidence.” Baker will be involved in all stages of development discussions, to bring the occupier perspective to every part of the process. “I’m not going to be able to build the core, but I might have an idea about what the occupier wants out of that core,” he says. London as the gateway to Europe Baker says he has seen the strongest growth in tenant demand from the tech and media sectors, together with sustained demand from the financial services sector. What are occupiers telling him about why they want to be based in London? “Mainly it’s about attracting the right people and keeping those people. I think that’s the fundamental,” he says. “And then on top of all of that, it’s the natural gateway to Europe, it’s got all the inherent advantages that everyone associates with London, it’s just come top of the financial services centre table. So, I think the education, the law, the timezone, the language, all of those things continue to play into our hands.” CORE is working with a range of investment partners, although Ainsworth says over the time it has been working there has been a general transition from UK funds to European funds and Far Eastern investors and now, more recently, family offices. “There’s always a mix, and I think that one of London’s strengths is its ability to attract investors as well as occupiers,” Ainsworth says. “What we’re trying to do is just make sure that we are a quality partner of choice in London. We do invest where necessary, but in fact our business plan has never been to create large funds, it’s always been to be a development partner which is design-led, occupier-led, but at a scale.” Its current pipeline (see below) includes 20 Ropemaker Street, EC2, a 415,000 sq ft office scheme it is developing with Old Park Lane Management. Ainsworth thinks there are still development opportunities to be found in the central London market, despite the general view that we are late cycle. “I think what’s on the corner of every street has some possibility and especially if you can buy two buildings next to each other, you’ve suddenly got a site which nobody realised was there,” he says. “So I think it’s not just about completely new locations, it’s about seeing what’s in front of you sometimes.” He says CORE’s repositioning of LSQ London, SW1, in partnership with Linseed Assets to provide a 127,000 sq ft office-led building overlooking Leicester Square was a good example of this. “I think everyone suddenly realised what was there”, he says of the building, which was fully let within nine months of completion to Hearst Media, LEGO and NFL UK. Will Baker miss the agency world? He says Knight Frank is a “great partnership” where he had a great time, but he is also focused on the opportunity of his new role. “What I can I bring to the table, what’s the excitement for the future – really that overtook any feelings of leaving.” In addition to CORE’s central London focus, he says one of his key reasons for joining the developer was the people. “You can have all the reputation and all the rest of it, but the people have to work and the chemistry has to be right. CORE has got a great reputation, full of integrity and trust which I think is really important, but it does help somewhat that we actually get on because obviously that’s pretty essential.” Bradley Baker: quick-fire questions Which sector do you think has the longest way to go in terms of improving its offering for employees? The financial sector is beginning to look long and hard about how they can improve their environment, because traditionally they’ve occupied big floorplates, high densities, and it’s about making that work for the guy who’s at his desk for a long period of time. What tenant demand is most underrated by developers? It will probably be some form of communal interactive space. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of space but I think that occupiers are beginning to realise just how valuable that is. Name one leasing deal in last 12 months indicative of where the market is going? I think a very interesting example of that is when Amazon took a very big chunk of space at 60 Holborn Viaduct. They then took the main chunk of space on the fringes of Broadgate [Principle Place, EC2], and they didn’t make a decision on what they were going to do with Holborn Viaduct right until the last minute. I think that’s ultimate flexibility. First tenant rep deal you ever did? Merrill Lynch was probably my first significant client, and it started off with the way a lot of occupiers do. They’ll use you because they’re expanding, and they’ll say right we need another 10,000 sq ft. I think in their case we took 10,000 sq ft down the road, and then they wanted 100,000 sq ft down the road, and then it was a case of, we need to move our whole HQ. What deal are you most proud of? It’s probably the Gherkin [for Swiss Re]. It was a challenge because the site was under offer to another party so we had to wrestle the contract away from that party, and then it was a case really of working with the architects and working with the planners to create something that was going to be acceptable to everybody. What is the biggest challenge for the leasing agency community going forward? One of the observations is that some landlords are doing a lot of the marketing themselves. That’s one trend that’s emerged, but I think often it’s in tandem and working with the agency community. CORE pipeline ■ 20 Ropemaker Street, EC2 ■ Partner: Old Park Lane Management ■ Scheme: The 27-storey building will provide 415,000 sq ft of offices along with dedicated SME/affordable workspace and ground-floor retail. ■ Status: Planning consent achieved in December. Completion scheduled for 2022. ■ Bureau, 90 Fetter Lane, EC4 ■ Partner: Evans Randall Investors ■ Scheme: The office refurbishment, which includes adding two floors, will create 75,000 sq ft of office and retail space. ■ Status: Due for completion in Q2 2018. ■ 16 Old Bailey, EC4 ■ Partner: Nan Fung Group ■ Scheme: Major refurbishment of the building, including additional floors and rearranging the core to provide 110,000 sq ft of offices. ■ Status: Planning application submitted. Subject to approval, completion estimated for Q3 2020. 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