Lazari, the privately-owned property investment and development company, has completed the lease of all 115,000 square feet of offices at The Lazari Building, 7 Brook Street, the former Fenwick department store in London's Mayfair.
International law firm McDermott Will & Emery has agreed to a 15-year lease on all of office space across the second to ninth floors and will relocate from its home in around 20,000 square feet at 22 Bishopsgate to its new UK headquarters at The Lazari Building in 2028.
Law firms have been highly active in taking prime space in the London office market recently, with US law firms, such as Clifford Chance, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis all completing landmark moves. The US law firms have seen highly competitive salaries and brand new headquarters as key to recruiting top talent in the UK.
Lazari is redeveloping the building as a headquarters office with flagship retail spaces along New Bond Street. An agreement to lease the building on completion of construction works was signed in New York on Friday 13 June.
It is thought that the blended rent for the offices is around £180 per square foot.
Since securing planning permission from Westminster City Council a year ago, Lazari has been repurposing and extending the existing buildings on the site. Designed by Foster & Partners, the project will have a double-height Brook Street entrance, leading to a timber-lined reception space. There will be external terraces alongside a rooftop garden entertainment space. There will also be a mezzanine bar, a wellness centre, changing rooms and cycle parking.
There will also be a two-storey retail space incorporated into the design at 53-63 Bond Street. Total retail space of 35,800 square feet can be divided into four units of up to 13,000 square feet and with floor heights of up to 5.6 metres. Lazari said it expects high demand from the "discerning luxury retailers appropriate to the global reputation of New Bond Street".
The building is targeting Outstanding BREEAM rating, NABERS 5.5*, WELL Platinum, LEED Platinum and EPC A. the scheme will retain around 50% of the existing structure, around 75% of the historic facades and will have an upfront carbon measure of 463 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per square metre.
Len Lazari, director at Lazari, said in a statement: “This was a unique opportunity to establish a new development on an historic site, on London’s most exclusive retail street. There was a responsibility to deliver a scheme which provides revitalised, contemporary office and retail amenities, while at the same time being sympathetic and in keeping with its historic surroundings.
“The quality of design and prestige of the location was always going to attract the highest calibre of office occupier. McDermott squarely meets this description and we are delighted to welcome them as partners as we work together to create a state-of-the-art office that works as a magnet for their people and clients.”
Aymen Mahmoud, McDermott’s London managing partner, added: “This move is a significant milestone for McDermott. For us, this isn’t just a new office, it’s a space that truly represents our ambition to be at the pinnacle of the London legal market. This space reflects who we are: dynamic, collaborative, and future-focused. Mayfair is exactly where we belong: at the centre of the conversation, at the top of the market and shoulder to shoulder with our clients.”
Family-owned department store Fenwick sold its New Bond Street premises to investment firm Lazari Investments for £430 million for a mixed-use redevelopment in 2023.
The group made the “difficult” decision to sell the 181-year-old property to unlock major investment at its stores across the country, including flagships in Newcastle and Kingston-upon-Thames.
It emerged in February 2023 that Fenwick was marketing the prominent store on London's most exclusive shopping street to potential buyers including Sir Stuart Lipton in partnership with an unidentified investor, and the luxury group LVMH, which bought and refurbished the Paris department store La Samaritaine.
Fenwick gained consent in January 2020 for a five-storey office extension and a part change of use from retail to offices in a familiar story for London department stores, as Westminster councillors accepted “anything that can be done to help a store like Fenwick to survive and thrive should be welcomed”.
Colliers represented McDermott. CBRE and Knight Frank jointly represented Lazari.