BBC to Move from White City HQ?
Report fuels rumours of possible sale to top football club
The BBC is reported to be considering moving its headquarters away from White City.
Commercial real estate information company CoStar said this week that the BBC Worldwide has appointed agents Cushman & Wakefield to find a new building in the Western Quadrant of the M25 office market.
They are looking south of the M40, north of the A3 and between the M25 and the West End, and has asked agents to provide full details of any “high quality office premises of approximately 125,000 sq ft that can be deliverable within the next three years”.
CoStar says the move opens the door to the BBC selling on more of its White City media village complex, potentially to a Premier League Football Club, as part of a major drive to cut costs and realise value from its property estate.
Earlier this month the BBC confirmed it would be cutting a further 2,000 jobs and was proposing a complete withdrawal of its public services staff from west London over the next few years.
This could mean that its adjacent White City One building in its media village complex, home to around 1,000 staff, could be sold. BBC Worldwide occupies the Media Centre, 201 Wood Lane, a new development within the media village complex
This news is fuelling rumours about the site being taken over by a top football club in search of a new stadium, with QPR and Chelsea both in the frame.
The broadcaster is also currently shortlisting potential bidders for its nearby historic Television Centre home in a separate tender. CoStar has also reported that 11 companies are now included on the shortlist including Google, which already has several locations in London, but is known to be seeking a single base office.
October 21, 2011
