A Chinese developer, ABP China has been tasked with the development and it is hoped that this will become the city’s next business district and will provide new trade links in particular with China and other economies in the Asia-Pacific region.
Initial projections forecast the site to be worth £6bn to the UK economy creating 20,000 new jobs and boosting local employment by 30%.
The deal represents one of the first direct investment by a Chinese developer in London’s property market and will eventually be home to over 3.2m square feet of high quality work, retail and leisure space, including 2.5m square feet of prime office space, creating a new, vibrant 24/7 district on London’s waterways. The first tranche of occupiers is expected in 2017 with interest already from Chinese companies.
This will be the largest development of its kind in the UK, the state-of-the-art business district will act as a platform for financial, high-tech and knowledge driven industries and will be located within the Enterprise Zone thus providing significant tax incentives of locating within the region.
As well as being good news for the UK, this is also good news for Ecovis as it should result in more cross-border business between the UK and the Far East, with a consequential increase in business opportunities for Ecovis offices operating in this region.