Four new firms setting up shop in Heron Tower | Morning Wire

GERALD Ronson’s landmark Heron Tower is now 60 per cent let after four new tenants agreed to take up office space in the building.

Partnership Assurance, the pensions company, has signed for the building’s lowest four office storeys, Heron International Group said yesterday.

Securis Investment Partners, the insurance linked investment fund manager, stockbrokers Westhouse Securities, and Salesforce, the US software firm, have also taken up space in the 230 metre-tall tower.

The group did not confirm details of the agreements, but rental prices are understood to range from £50 to £60 per square foot, with most leases signed for a minimum of 10 years.

The Heron Tower, which has about 462,000 sq ft of office and restaurant space, has struggled with lettings since it was completed in 2011 as firms shelved plans to move due to economic uncertainty.

It has also faced competition from rival schemes such as the Cheesegrater and the Walkie Talkie, which have been able to lure insurers – among the few sectors to take up space in the City last year – because of their proximity to Lloyd’s of London.

But CBRE, which is acting as agent on the Tower with Savills, said lettings have picked up since the start of the year, thanks to renewed confidence in the market and also a number of traditional West End occupiers moving east. Salesforce was previously under offer at the Crown Estate’s AirW1 building on Regent Street.

Ronson said: “There is strong interest in the remaining floors and we look forward to welcoming further tenants soon.”

Heron said work has also begun on the Four Seasons Hotel next to the tower.