ECF closes in on St Paul’s deal
Spanish bank Santander is in advanced negotiations to take the top floor of No 4 St Paul's Square in Liverpool with developer English Cities Fund.
Santander will relocate certain staff from its large base in Bootle, acquired as part of the takeover of Alliance & Leicester in 2010, and from Bruntwood's The Plaza, also on St Paul's Square.
The bank is understood to be considering the entire top floor, the seventh, of around 14,000 sq ft. The deal would be the first at the 109,000 sq ft building, completed in the summer. There are two other office buildings in St Paul's Square, occupied by Hill Dickinson, DWF, and Edward Symmons amongst others. A fourth building contains apartments and parking. Quoting rents at St Paul's Square are £21.50/sq ft.
Darran Lawless, director of English Cities Fund, commented: "We can confirm that Santander are interested in taking space at No 4 St Paul's Square. We are currently in detailed negotiations and will be able to announce further details shortly."
No 4 St Paul's Square received public sector funding of £4.2m from the North West Development and £4.6m from the European Regional Development Fund.
ECF is a joint venture between Legal & General, Muse Developments and the Homes & Communities Agency. Agents for the scheme are GVA and CBRE.
