LONDON (Reuters) - Global news agency and media group Bloomberg said a new European headquarters designed by Norman Foaster and set to be built on a site near the Bank of England should be completed in 2015.
U.S.-based property developer Tishman Speyer will be development manager on the project -- two buildings on a 3.2-acre site close to Bloomberg's existing European HQ.
The Financial Times reported Bloomberg had signed a deal to buy the site from Legal and General (Legal & General Group PLC ORD).
When completed, Bloomberg will occupy one of the 500,000 square feet office blocks, while the second will be a "speculative building," it said. Speculative buildings are those for which no occupants have been identified.
A Bloomberg spokeswoman declined to comment on the sum paid for the new site, and said it has yet to make plans for the second building, or for the company's existing London offices near Moorgate.
Bloomberg's current London headquarters on Finsbury Square, part of which was also designed by Foster, has served as the company's European headquarters since 1987 and currently houses over 2,300 employees, it said.
Major developers including British Land (British Land Company PLC ORD 2), Hammerson (Hammerson PLC ORD 25P) and Land Securities (Land Securities Group PLC) have unveiled plans to build new office buildings in London in recent months, stirring industry concerns of a potential oversupply as Britain's economic recovery remains weak.
(Reporting by Daryl Loo; Editing by Dan Lalor)