A property developer has secured a major investment deal for a huge eco-friendly office it's building in Bristol.
Cubex and funding partner Fiera Real Estate, which are behind ‘Halo’ in the city centre, have secured £70million from Tesco Pension Investment - the in-house asset manager for the supermarket's pension scheme.
The Grade A office can fit around 1,000 staff inside and will be one of the greenest in the country when it opens, according to Cubex.
It has a corkscrew-like staircase rising up through a glass atrium, LED lighting, roof-top mounted photovoltaic panels, a drone landing pad, outdoor space on the roof, a bike park and glazed façade.
Construction firm Willmott Dixon has already started work on the property, which is expected to be finished in the spring of 2022.
Peter Walford, director at Cubex, said: "This is a very significant office investment deal for Bristol, particularly in the current economic climate, and reflects not only the quality of the building we are developing but the strength of interest from the property sector in the city.
"This is the fifth Grade A office building that we've developed in this area of Bristol and with each, we aim to raise the bar in terms of both design and innovation, an approach which has been rewarded by the quality of the tenants and investors we have been able to attract."
In February, law firm Osborne Clarke agreed to take nearly two thirds of Halo - 74,000 sq ft - in a pre-let deal, two years ahead of completion.
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The firm is planning to relocate 600 staff from its Temple Quay office in Bristol into the top five floors of the new building.
Martin Booth, a partner in the Bristol office of Knight Frank said: "Despite the challenging market conditions and economic uncertainty, there is still pent up demand for high quality future-focused office space in Bristol.
"Even with working practices changing as a result of Covid-19 and predictions of staff spending less time in the office, employers will still need space where they can bring people together to work collaboratively and meet clients.
"Cubex is the only developer in Bristol to be delivering a building of this calibre into the market in early 2022 and we expect strong interest in the remaining three floors at Halo."
Cubex bought the former Avon Fire and Rescue site, which will be home to Halo, in 2018 on behalf of Fiera Real Estate Opportunity Fund IV (海角视频) - a programmatic joint venture by Fiera Real Estate that is exclusive to clients of CBRE Global Investment Partners.
CBRE represented Cubex and Fiera in the forward-funding deal on Halo, with Savills acting on behalf of Tesco.