68 King William Street

Sixty-eight King William Street is a landmark building in central London, and former home to a House of Fraser department store that was no longer viable. The vision was to repurpose the building as a spectacular mixed-use, office-led landmark building to provide a vibrant food and leisure offering, that would not only cater to the new generation of workers in the city but also to the wider public and make the building a destination in itself.

Our client has teamed up with London property investor, Black Mountain Partners, in order to buy this 11-storey office and retail building. Linesight has acted on behalf of Ares Management for two years as project Cost Managers, for the refurbishment and conversion of
this 125,000sq.ft., listed Commercial office building into premium HQ building with Grade A accommodation.

The project is complex in respect of cost management risk, with scope extending to major shell and core alteration, change of use from retail to office, multi-tenant access demands and multi-build contract procurement approach.  

Value added by Linesight

• Accurate Cost Management reporting and forecast of appropriate risk allowances greatly assisted the client’s investment decision making
• Linesight introduced a best practice change control process pre- and post-contract to provide cost certainty to the client
• Linesight provided proactive Cost Management services for a logistically challenging project, ensuring accurate, timely budgeting and approvals were achieved to deliver within
  programme timeframes
• Effective stakeholder management was critical to delivering a successful outcome. Our Cost Management team ensured all key decision-makers had the right information, at the right time to make informed decisions
• Linesight has extensive experience refurbishing older buildings enabling our team to effectively advise on potential risks and recommend strategies to mitigate those risks  

Client testimonial

The Linesight team have led the Cost Management service on our 68 King William St Development since its inception. Their positive attitude and professionalism have enabled us to keep a tight control on costs in a difficult COVID influenced environment. In particular, I would single out their management and leadership of two procurement processes – firstly, a two stage Design and Build award on a complicated cut and carve of a Central London historic building, and secondly, on the creation in the same building of a Rooftop Bar, which effectively added another storey. Both of these packages of work are challenging technically and involve significant risk through interfaces with the existing structure, which need to be fairly and transparently allocated between contractors and client. Linesight’s ability to engage with the contractors during the bidding process and maintain a tough but fair line with bidders has resulted in a successful outcome of the main reconstruction works, and allowed us as the client to procure the Rooftop Bar at
a competitive price from a well-respected contractor.

Construction Director, Black Mountain Partners