US titan strikes deal on new ‘Gotham City’ skyscraper
Kirkland & Ellis has put pen to paper on a lease deal that will see it shift its London operations from the iconic ‘Gherkin’ building to a brand new skyscraper around the corner.
The US titan, which has around 550 lawyers and staff in London, confirmed it will become a major occupier of a newly constructed building at 40 Leadenhall Street. The firm will move into the 34-storey site, dubbed ‘Gotham City’, upon its completion.
The deal means Kirkland will vacate its Instagrammable home at 30 St Mary Axe, more commonly known as the ‘The Gherkin’, after 15 years.
Jon A. Ballis, chairman of Kirkland’s executive committee, commented: “40 Leadenhall will be a modern and iconic building with state-of-the-art features. We will have a new, beautiful and welcoming environment in London for all our lawyers, staff and clients, with cutting edge technology and work spaces.”
Other major City players to announce office moves include Linklaters and Travers Smith. The former is set to occupy roughly 300,000 sqft at 20 Ropemaker Street, Moorgate, from 2026, while the latter will take up residency in a new redevelopment in Farringdon in 2025.
Meanwhile, Legal Cheek reported earlier this summer that Skadden had secured several floors of a newly constructed skyscraper at 22 Bishopsgate featuring the City’s first ever ‘sky-wall’ climbing window on the 25th floor.
