Bank of Scotland joins march to St Paul’s Square
Public-private developer English Cities Fund has exchanged contracts with Bank of Scotland Corporate to take around 12,000 sq ft at St Paul's Square in Liverpool.
The HBoS subsidiary will occupy 3,600 sq ft on the ground floor and 8,350 sq ft on the first floor of 5 St Paul's Square.
The 133,000 sq ft building completes in May 2008 and was pre-sold to a Standard Life Investments pension fund in May 2007.
More than 50 bank staff will relocate from existing offices in Castle Street and Princes Dock to St Paul's. HBoS had originally looked at Rumford Investments' 20 Chapel Street but a deal collapsed in the latter stages.
A recent restructuring by Bank of Scotland Corporate was partly aimed at winning more real estate business in the region.
Local solicitor DWF signed before Christmas for 42,000 sq ft in the same building in the city's largest new build office letting of last year.
Tim Rigg, Bank of Scotland's head of commercial banking for the North West, said: "We've already experienced exponential growth in our presence within the North West over the past few years but the new premises in the heart of Liverpool's new commercial district will enable us to move up a gear."
Number 5 St Paul's Square is the second of three office buildings in the scheme. Anchor tenants for the completed first phase are Hill Dickinson LLP and Allied Irish Bank (UK). The third phase, of 109,000 sq ft, starts on site in May 2008 and is expected to complete in late 2009.
English Cities Fund is a joint venture between Muse Developments, English Partnership and Legal & General.
GVA Grimley and Irving Rice are lettings agents for ECF.
