APRIL 11, 2019|PAUL NORMAN
Chicago's Booth School of Business Sets Sights on Overseas Expansion With New Lease in London
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business is relocating its London campus to a larger address steeped in history, a move aimed at attracting interest across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Booth agreed to a new 15-year lease for 43,796 square feet at One Bartholomew, a recently built 12-story office building that sits on the historic Barts Square, the focus of a major redevelopment effort. The deal comes as Booth is building another statement campus in Hong Kong. Barts Square sits next to Smithfield market, a centuries-old meat market, as well as the oldest-standing church in London. It also forms part of what is known as the culture mile, close to the Museum of London, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Barbican Centre and St Paul’s Cathedral. Booth is almost doubling its space in the U.K. capital as it moves from the 27,500 square feet it has subleased from Portigon Financial Services for several years. The lease on that building, which is owned by Cathay Life, runs until 2020 and Chicago Booth plans to take up residence at Barts in late spring of that year.
The new campus will serve as home to Booth’s Executive MBA Europe Program, but the institution says the increased size will also allow it to grow its programming, including MBA classes, non-degree executive education, academic conferences and seminars, speaker events, and a wide range of alumni and corporate events and activities, which can be held simultaneously.
“This move represents Chicago Booth’s renewed commitment to the Executive MBA program in Europe and will broaden the school’s impact across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region,” said Madhav Rajan, dean at Chicago Booth. In 1943, Booth introduced what it calls the world's “first executive MBA program," via permanent campuses on three continents. The school made London its European base in 2005 after 10 years based in Barcelona. Under the new plans, Booth will occupy the first three floors at One Bartholomew with two executive-style tiered classrooms, flexible event space and open areas for alumni, students, staff and guests from across the university. It will add a private, ground-level entrance on to the emerging mixed-use area of the redeveloped Barts Square, which includes residential, office and shops. The project is being developed by Helical, one of London’s long-term leading developers, and AshbyCapital, a developer and investor set up in 2013 by UK real estate entrepreneur Peter Ferrari with backing from private Middle Eastern capital. The new campus aims to “foster increased engagement with the London business and finance community on vital issues, allowing Booth to leverage the city’s corporate and financial power and its connections to market-oriented economies around the world," the school said in a statement. It added that the move complements the University’s “new campus in Hong Kong, reflecting a truly global approach to thinking about business and finance, and what an MBA means at this time."
The new campus will serve as home to Booth’s Executive MBA Europe Program, but the institution says the increased size will also allow it to grow its programming, including MBA classes, non-degree executive education, academic conferences and seminars, speaker events, and a wide range of alumni and corporate events and activities, which can be held simultaneously.
“This move represents Chicago Booth’s renewed commitment to the Executive MBA program in Europe and will broaden the school’s impact across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region,” said Madhav Rajan, dean at Chicago Booth. In 1943, Booth introduced what it calls the world's “first executive MBA program," via permanent campuses on three continents. The school made London its European base in 2005 after 10 years based in Barcelona. Under the new plans, Booth will occupy the first three floors at One Bartholomew with two executive-style tiered classrooms, flexible event space and open areas for alumni, students, staff and guests from across the university. It will add a private, ground-level entrance on to the emerging mixed-use area of the redeveloped Barts Square, which includes residential, office and shops. The project is being developed by Helical, one of London’s long-term leading developers, and AshbyCapital, a developer and investor set up in 2013 by UK real estate entrepreneur Peter Ferrari with backing from private Middle Eastern capital. The new campus aims to “foster increased engagement with the London business and finance community on vital issues, allowing Booth to leverage the city’s corporate and financial power and its connections to market-oriented economies around the world," the school said in a statement. It added that the move complements the University’s “new campus in Hong Kong, reflecting a truly global approach to thinking about business and finance, and what an MBA means at this time."