Henderson Global Investors granted permission for 40 Leadenhall Street, London

LONDON, Feb. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Henderson Global Investors' c.£12.7 billion Property Business has secured a resolution to grant planning permission from the City of London for its scheme at 40 Leadenhall Street.

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The exciting, high quality building -- dubbed 'Gotham City' when plans were initially unveiled -- is located in the heart of the City's Eastern Cluster of tall buildings. It will vary in height between 7 and 34 office storeys, with two additional basement levels, a roof level plant, (total height 170m AOD) a flexible retail/cafe and restaurant uses at ground floor level and café/restaurant with roof terrace overlooking Fenchurch Street. The total size of the building is 910,000 sq ft NIA, split between 890,000 sq ft office and c. 20,000 sq ft retail.

The building is located in the City of London's established and dynamic insurance district of EC3 . The site is very well served with public transport surrounded by various bus routes, underground and overground stations. A grade II listed building at 19-21 Billiter Street, built in 1865, will be restored and integrated into the proposed scheme. It is estimated that 390 FTE construction jobs will be created on the site and approximately 7,000 people are expected to work in the building when complete.

The scheme has been designed by award-winning international architectural practice, "Make", and is formed of vertical slices arranged around the listed building which create a striking and considered vertical composition to complement the more curved and leaning buildings on the London skyline. The tallest part of the building is positioned at the northern end of the site to take account of neighbouring tall buildings and steps down in height toward the River Thames and Tower of London to the south. The proposed new building is also terraced at high level on the northern side of Leadenhall Street so that it remains out of sight when travelling east along Fleet Street along the ceremonial route to St Paul's Cathedral. Ground floor entrance and retail frontages are set back to create generous pedestrian zones, wider pavements and spaces along key pedestrian routes on adjacent Leadenhall Street, Fenchurch Street, Billiter Street and Fenchurch Buildings.

Nick Deacon, Director of Property, Central London Offices, Henderson Global Investors, said: "We are delighted to have achieved a resolution to grant planning permission for what will be a very exciting addition to the London skyline and a valuable contribution to the City's ever evolving tower cluster. This is a significant step forward for the project. We are committed to progressing the scheme and have begun to explore a number of options to achieve this."

Geoff Harris, Director of Property Development, Henderson Global Investors, said: "The completed scheme will fit in with the rich urban character of streets and spaces of EC3 with tall towers and lower rise blocks, primary thoroughfares, hidden alleyways and discreet public spaces. The shifting vertical planes of the scheme rise to complement the cluster of tall buildings on the skyline and sensitively terrace down in southern views from and across the River Thames to respect local and strategic views."

Paul Scott, Make partner and lead project architect, said: "We are thrilled our scheme has achieved a resolution to grant planning permission and look forward to delivering a world class 21st century building that will both enhance the City's insurance district and reinforce its premier global position. The design breaks new ground and will join the City of London's iconic portfolio of modern buildings."

The development has been designed to meet the BREEAM NC 2011 Excellent standard and the sustainability measures proposed will allow the Building Emissions Rate to be reduced by a minimum of 40% below Part L2A of the 2010 Building Regulations. The building has 1.067 bicycle spaces with additional mobility scooter charging spaces, 113 showers and two disabled car parking spaces.

Henderson acquired the 'Leadenhall Triangle' site on behalf of clients in May 2011. Its Central London Office team currently owns c.£900 million of assets across the main sub-markets of Central London. Its standing investment portfolio extends to 2 million sq ft of office accommodation and its development portfolio provides for a further 850,000 sq ft. The team has a strong track record in the delivery of high quality schemes in the London market.

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About Henderson Property

Henderson is a leading property asset manager with c.£12.7 billion (as at 30 September 2013) of property funds under management across Europe, Asia and the US. The property team comprises over 200 staff based in offices across Europe, Asia and the US. The company has offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Chicago, Frankfurt, Hartford, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney & Vienna. It also has additional asset management capabilities through a joint venture in Hamburg.

The property business manages pooled and segregated accounts which invest in properties offering coreand value-added returns. In addition to investing across all commercial sectors, the property business alsomanages funds with sector specialist and/or regional themes. Henderson's property business includes amarket-leading research capability.

In June 2013, Henderson Global Investors and TIAA-CREF announced their intention to launch a new globalreal estate investment management company, TIAA Henderson Real Estate. It is due to be established inQ1 2014 and will consist of TIAA-CREF's European real estate business and Henderson's European andAsia Pacific-based real estate businesses. It will also operate a global distribution and servicing platform onbehalf of its own assets and those belonging to TIAA-CREF in North America, representing c.£42bn of realestate assets. The global scale of the company places it as one of the industry's largest companies and willoffer clients expanded investment opportunities in the global real estate market while helping to acceleratethe growth of each firm's real estate business, providing access to global capabilities across all sectors ofthe market.

www.henderson.com/property

About Henderson Global Investors

Established in 1934, Henderson Global Investors is a leading independent global asset management firm.The company provides its institutional, retail and high net-worth clients with access to skilled investmentprofessionals representing a broad range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, property andprivate capital. With its principal place of business in London, Henderson is one of Europe's largestinvestment managers, with an estimated £70.8 billion assets under management (as at 30 September 2013)and employs over 1000 people world-wide.

www.henderson.com

About Make Architects

Make is a studio of architects and designers committed to designing buildings, spaces and places which areas striking and innovative as they are socially, economically and environmentally responsible. Founded byKen Shuttleworth in 2004, the practice has established itself as one of the UK's foremost architecturalfirms, with studios based in London, Hong Kong and Beijing. Current projects range in scale from privatehouses, residential towers and office developments to sports facilities, hospitals and urban masterplans.

www.makearchitects.com