Photo: Falk Lademann/Flickr
The ten-year old, curvy office tower that dominates London’s financial district, The Gherkin, is up for sale. Known officially as 30 St Mary Axe, the 40-storey skyscraper is more commonly called The Gherkin thanks to its pickle-like shape.
Savills and Deloitte Real Estate haven’t released a price tag, but agents are hoping the landmark will fetch anywhere between £600 million to £650 million (or up to $1.09 billion USD). Buyers will most likely be investors from outside the country.
Back in 2007, it had been sold by insurance group Swiss Re to the German property investment firm, IVG Immobilien, and its partner Evans Randall, an investment banking and private equity group, for a record-breaking £600 million. The sale made it the priciest piece of office property in London.
However, IVG became insolvent and talk of a potential sale surfaced in April of this year when the building was put into receivership.
Made up of 505,000 square feet (or 46,914 square metres) of office space, Deloitte has described the building as being in “trophy condition.” Designed by Norman Foster of the Foster + Partners architectural firm, the tower has earned a number of awards including the prestigious RIBA Stirling prize as well as the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s 10 Year Award.
