Tenacity’s City tower site set for £300m sale

A team of UK and Canadian buyers is in talks to buy the site of a planned City tower in a deal worth almost £300m. UK developer Stanhope and Canadian funding partner Cadillac Fairview are nearing a deal to buy Tenacity’s 70 Gracechurch Street, EC3, EG can reveal. Hong Kong businessman Patrick Wong’s development company received planning approval last year for a 34-storey office tower which would have accommodated up to 4,300 workers. However, if the deal goes ahead, the buyers are expected to draw up fresh proposals because it would not have vacant possession of the existing buildings until at least 2026. The 11-storey building contains a Marks & Spencer store on the bottom floors, with a series of office occupiers above. Tenacity bought the site from Legal & General in 2017 for £271m before working up plans for the site to submit to the City of London Corporation. The scheme, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, would have contained about 600,000 sq ft of office and retail space, with sections set aside for small businesses. Wong said at the time that the proposed scheme “put the health and wellbeing of occupants at its heart”. 70 Gracechurch Street would be Stanhope’s second major office-led scheme in the City in recent years. It is also a stone’s throw from its landmark development at 8 Bishopsgate, EC3, which is being brought forward with Mitsubishi Estate. The scheme, which was designed by WilkinsonEyre and is targeting a BREEAM Outstanding rating, has been touted as the UK’s most sustainable speculative office tower. It will contain 570,000 sq ft across 50 storeys. CBRE is acting for Stanhope and Cadillac Fairview; Savills is acting for Tenacity. All parties declined to comment. To send feedback, e-mail alex.daniel@eg.co.uk or tweet @alexmdaniel or @EGPropertyNews Image © Tenacity