St James’s Office Space

Renting office space in St James’s brings status and distinction due to the district’s unique heritage and prestige.

The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James’s Palace. During the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the 17th century, the area was developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy. During the 19th century, it was the focus of the development of their gentlemen’s clubs, which earned the district the nickname ‘Clubland’.

St James’s Palace’s name is derived from the dedication of a 12th-century leper hospital to Saint James the Less and is the oldest royal palace in London, built by order of King Henry VIII in the 1530s. Although no longer the monarch’s principal residence, it is the ceremonial meeting place of the Accession Council, the office of the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, and the London residence of several members of the royal family. It also hosts over 100 receptions each year for charities associated with members of the Royal Family and is where Charles III was proclaimed king in 2022.

Until the Second World War, St James’s remained one of London’s most exclusive residential neighbourhoods. Although it is today predominantly commercial, St James’s is still home to some of London’s most expensive super prime residential properties, including 3 Carlton Gardens, which was purchased by Ken Griffin, founder of the hedge fund Citadel, for £95 million in 2019, a record-breaking price that year.

St James’s is also still home to private member’s clubs such as The Oxford and Cambridge Club, The Royal Automobile Club and The Reform Club, art galleries, luxury hotels such as the Sofitel London St James’s and the Haymarket, and several foreign embassies. It was also home to the State of Texas’s first version of an embassy, a ‘legation’, between 1842 and 1845, when it was declared a republic and separated from the United States. This was located in rooms above the Berry Bros and Rudd coffee shop, which has been situated on Bury Street since 1698.

Piccadilly in St James’s has famously been the home of the purveyor of fine foods, Fortnum & Mason, since 1707, and the district is also where Wall’s was established in 1786 at T Wall and Sons butcher shop. The company was acquired by what became a fast-moving consumer goods company, Unilever, in 1922.

St James’s is also home to the oldest hat shop in the world, Lock and Co. Hatters, which was established on St James’s Street in 1676. It is also home to possibly the world’s most famous street associated with tailoring, Jermyn Street, which boasts the most Royal Warrants of any single street in the United Kingdom.

The district’s food and beverage establishments also have fascinating pasts. For instance, Dukes Bar at 35 St James’s Place was a favourite haunt of spy novel writer Ian Fleming and is said to have inspired the famous line “shaken, not stirred.”

The basement of the St. James’s Palace Hotel, which later became the Meurice, was where Quaglino’s restaurant was established in 1929. It was patronised by the Royal Family, members of the British aristocracy such as the Mountbatten family, and members of foreign royal families.

Situated in the West End, it is bounded to the north by Piccadilly, to the west by Green Park, to the south by The Mall and St James’s Park and to the east by The Haymarket, and provides excellent transportation links.

The Central London district has unsurprisingly become a highly sought-after office district for high-profile occupiers. 1 St James’s Square is the global headquarters of multinational oil and gas company BP, and Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll made No. 5 St James’s Square his company’s London headquarters when he agreed to rent 4,000 square feet of office space on a 10-year lease for a record-breaking £190 per square foot per annum in 2017.

The Grade II* listed No. 5 had once been the headquarters offices of the multinational mining corporation Rio Tinto, and before that, was known as Wentworth House when it was built in 1751 for William Wentworth, the Earl of Strafford.

Through a meticulous refurbishment program, No. 5 St James’s Square offices offer space of exceptionally high standard with luxury finishes combined with state-of-the-art technology. Impressively, for a building of its vintage, No. 5 is recognised against modern sustainability standards, having been awarded ‘Very Good’ BREEAM accreditation.

This extraordinary office building, like many others in St James’s, offers both leased office space that can be rented on a traditional leasehold basis and flexible office space and workspace options.

Also known as ‘flex space’ options, these include private serviced offices, managed office suites, and co-working spaces. All can be occupied on relatively short-term flexible contracts, and they are let with all-inclusive rents that cover utilities, cleaning, furnishings, communication technology, and reception and business support services for greater efficiencies and convenience for the occupying client.