Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has inked a lease to take on about 300,000 square feet of space at 100 Bishopsgate, moving its headquarters in London from Fleet Street.
The lease, the biggest City lease deal of the year yet, will likely see the Magic Circle move to its new headquarters by 2021 when its lease expires at its current home at the former
Daily Mail headquarters in the City, according to
The Evening Standard.
However, as
The Lawyer points out, the firm could initiate a break clause before 2021 after 100 Bishopsgate is completed by Canadian developer Brookfield in 2018.
The new headquarters means Freshfields is cutting its City office space by about a quarter, but the reduction comes after the firm relocated its legal services and back office departments to Manchester in 2015.
Before deciding on its new headquarters’ location, Freshfields considered several sites including 70 St Mary Axe and 3 Finsbury Avenue, according to
The Lawyer.
Back in May, the firm confirmed a new lease for 40,000 square feet at Arndale House in Manchester has been signed. It also told The Law Society Gazette that it is looking for 100,000 square feet of space in the area for a larger move next year as it grows its service centre.
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