When the so-called Brexit vote, for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union took place two years ago, many thought occupiers would leave the U.K. But the Wall Street Journal reports this week that the London real estate market is strong.
According to the article, “big financial-services firms have renewed their commitment to the city. In the largest lease of 2017, Deutsche Bank AG took 500,000 square feet at 21 Moorfields in the City of London… This year SMBC Nikko, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., the second-largest bank in Japan by assets, took 161,000 square feet at 100 Liverpool Street.”
The article also points out that “in 2016, a couple of months after the Brexit vote, Apple Inc. committed to six floors in the iconic Battersea Power Station, which is being redeveloped. Google is building a £1 billion ($1.4 billion) headquarters in King’s Cross, where it currently rents an 11-story office block not far away from the development. Facebook Inc. is in talks to join Google in King’s Cross, and is expected to take four buildings, tripling the size of its footprint in the capital.”
Part of the issue may be that the technical aspects of Brexit are taking a long time to play out and it’s business as usual in the interim.
Or maybe, this is just what you have to do to get a good view of the royal wedding this summer.