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LONDON-Hines and Network Rail have landed construction financing for development project here that entails renovating the London Underground station and topping it with a 400,000-sf office building. Construction is slated to begin this summer and completion is expected in early 2010.

The project calls for approximately 400,000 sf of office space and 17,000 sf of station retail space. The office space will be in an eight-story office building with 49,000-sf floor plates. The retail space will be on both the concourse, and underground levels of the rail station. A renovation of the Cannon Street station concourse is also included in the cost of the project.

Hines is as yet providing little additional detail with regard to the project or the financing, which is being funded by HSH Nordbank, and an HSH executive could not be reached Friday for comment. The London Underground station is one of London's principal transportation interchanges and the area in and around the station is slated for substantial redevelopment."The City of London represents one of the key markets for office real estate, which will continue to be marked by keen long-term demand among corporate tenants and international real estate investors," says Jurgen Lange, head of international real estate for HSH, in a prepared statement. Adds Hines UK managing director Stephen Musgrave, "This is a really exciting building in an area of the city that is about to undergo a major transformation."