{"id":4396,"date":"2011-05-30T11:45:31","date_gmt":"2011-05-30T10:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/?p=4396"},"modified":"2011-05-30T11:25:51","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T10:25:51","slug":"shiny-sci-fi-walbrook-development-in-cannon-street-struggles-to-be-sold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/shiny-sci-fi-walbrook-development-in-cannon-street-struggles-to-be-sold\/","title":{"rendered":"Shiny sci-fi Walbrook development in Cannon Street struggles for buyers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/minerva-walbrook-building-01.jpg\" alt=\"The Walbrook development, Cannon Street, London, EC4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Named after the hidden river that runs nearby (the River Walbrook has been covered since Victorian times) this shiny development on Cannon Street was built to tempt the well-stuffed wallets of big financial institutions, although they haven&#8217;t exactly been\u00a0falling\u00a0over themselves to snap it up.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/minerva-walbrook-building-02.jpg\" alt=\"The Walbrook development, Cannon Street, London, EC4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Designed by renowned architect Norman Foster\u2019s practice and developed by Minerva PLC, construction started on the Futurist styled building in 2007, and was completed two years later.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/minerva-walbrook-building-03.jpg\" alt=\"The Walbrook development, Cannon Street, London, EC4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Since then, the\u00a0company\u00a0has struggled to fill the building, with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/business\/2011\/feb\/22\/minerva-santander-wakbrook-development\" target=\"_blank\">the Guardian<\/a> reporting in Feb 2011 that it had lain empty for a year.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/minerva-walbrook-building-04.jpg\" alt=\"The Walbrook development, Cannon Street, London, EC4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The failure to flog off this building must be hurting the owners, as Property News <a href=\"http:\/\/www.propertyweek.com\/news\/-global-titans-in-%C2%A31bn-clash-for-minerva\/5018475.article\" target=\"_blank\">recently reported<\/a> that\u00a0four of Europe\u2019s top opportunistic real estate fund managers were now &#8220;locked in a \u00a31bn battle&#8221; \u00a0to buy up Minerva.<\/p>\n<p>On the 26th May,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thisislondon.co.uk\/standard-business\/article-23953935-third-minerva-bid-comes-in-and-this-time-it-says-yes.do\" target=\"_blank\"> it was reported<\/a> that the company finally\u00a0accepted a \u00a3194 million takeover offer by a consortium  led by  Delancey and private-equity  group  Area Property.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/minerva-walbrook-building-05.jpg\" alt=\"The Walbrook development, Cannon Street, London, EC4\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>About the building<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Offering one of the largest trading floors in London at 4,738 square metres, the ground floor serves up 3,250 square metres of retail space with the entrance positioned directly opposite Cannon Street Station.<\/p>\n<p>The striking exterior of The Walbrook is encased with solar shading, designed to help keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter while improving energy efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>The exterior is clad in Fibre-Reinforced Polymer, a\u00a0material\u00a0used extensively in the aerospace, automotive and marine industries due to its strength and lightness.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/minerva-walbrook-building-06.jpg\" alt=\"The Walbrook development, Cannon Street, London, EC4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Above is the artist&#8217;s impression of the building, which is perhaps a little shinier than the real thing, while below is another piece of computer\u00a0generated\u00a0art from the\u00a0developer, this time\u00a0showing the building from the air.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/minerva-walbrook-building-07.jpg\" alt=\"The Walbrook development, Cannon Street, London, EC4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>[<a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyscrapernews.com\/buildings.php?id=4803\" target=\"_blank\">Skyscraper News<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Named after the hidden river that runs nearby (the River Walbrook has been covered since Victorian times) this shiny development on Cannon Street was built to tempt the well-stuffed wallets &hellip; 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