Hudson Bay Capital

Beating 2022’s toughest office market

Hudson Bay Capital, a US-headquartered hedge fund, needed to expand its UK office to support a growing London presence. The brief landed in the middle of one of the most competitive periods the Mayfair and St. James’ submarkets had seen in years – for a client that wanted a prime address without a prolonged, uncertain search.

The Challenge

Demand for prime space across Mayfair and St James’s was running well ahead of supply throughout 2022, with well-capitalised finance and asset management firms competing for the same handful of best-in-class buildings. Running a conventional market search in that environment risked a long process and a compromised outcome – any suitable space that did reach the open market was likely to attract multiple bids.

Our Approach

Rather than compete for whatever reached the open market, we leaned on our long-established network of landlord and agent contacts across Mayfair and St James’s to surface opportunities before they were formally released to the market. This let us get Hudson Bay Capital in front of the right options first, with the ability to move decisively while other occupiers were still waiting for marketing particulars that would never come forth on such spaces.

The Solution

That approach surfaced an off-market opportunity at 16 St James’s Street – the assignment of an existing lease from an outgoing tenant within a Grade II listed, Crown Estate-owned building at the heart of St James’s. Getting Hudson Bay Capital through the door before anyone else meant they could assess and commit to it without the competitive pressure the rest of the market was facing, securing a space the entire team loved. The space came with the benefit of a very high quality fit-out in-situ, with only minor modifications needed to suit our clients requirements.

The Outcome

On behalf of our client, Hudson Bay Capital, we identified, negotiated and secured 13,500 sq ft of off-market prime office space in the heart of St. James’ ahead of the wider market in one of the most competitive years the submarket had seen.