Goldman to Axa Ride London’s Crossrail Office Boom: Real Estate

London’s high-speed rail project is helping to drive an office-building boom on the City of London’s western edge as investors rejuvenate aging sites like Smithfield Market near future transport hubs.

Henderson Global Investors Ltd. is transforming Smithfield, a meatpacking center for centuries, into a sleek office block while a state-of-the-art Crossrail station is built at Farringdon about a minute’s walk north. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Axa SA and Land Securities Group Plc also own properties on the western fringe of the financial district.