Orange pulls plug on Paddington Basin

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

MOBILE phones operator Orange hopes to cancel the lease on a large part of the Paddington Basin development it signed up for as its new HQ in early 2001.

Developer Chelsfield is in negotiations to let the building to nearby St Mary's Hospital, which needs office space following its merger with three other medical establishments, reports Estates Gazette.

It is expected that St Mary's would pay less than the £35 a square foot that Orange agreed for the 250,000 square feet.

The deal depends on changeofuse planning permission. Orange's owner, France Telecom, said last December that it was restructuring its debt.

A spokesman for Orange said: 'We are reviewing all aspects of operating costs and in this context our wider property strategy must be reassessed.'

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