Cheesegrater investor joins transformation of former rave site and Royal Mail depot
One of the investors behind the Cheesegrater skyscraper has chosen a West End building infamous as a haunt for illegal raves, as its next London property project.
Canadian firm Oxford Properties has struck a deal to take a 50% stake in a £500 million redevelopment of the former Royal Mail depot at 21-31 New Oxford Street.
The 1960s office block which has been derelict for around 20 years, hit the headlines in 2010 when around 1,000 revellers took it over for an illegal rave.
Empty beer cans and bottles covered the floors, and walls were daubed with graffiti.
Oxford Properties will form a joint venture with Brockton Capital to convert the building into 250,000 square feet of offices and 35,000 square feet of shops, according to Estates Gazette magazine.
Work on site is expected to start later this year with completion by 2018 to capitalise on the arrival of the nearby Tottenham Court Road Crossrail station.
Property agents CBRE, Davis Coffer Lyons, JLL and Pilcher Hershman have all been hired to secure tenants for the planned property.
Oxford Properties is the real estate arm of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.
