When AXA Investment Management, as it was then, pushed the button on the 1.3M SF 22 Bishopsgate office development just a month after the UK voted to leave the EU, it may have been the gutsiest decision in UK real estate in the last 10 years.
But the call has been spectacularly vindicated — the building is now one of the most valuable in the UK.
And since then, under the leadership of Global Real Estate co-Head John O’Driscoll, the company, now renamed BNP Paribas Asset Management Alts, has become one of the preeminent forces in UK and European real estate.
Since joining the firm in 2018, O’Driscoll has played a leading role in bringing forward landmark projects, including its latest big office bet, 50 Fenchurch Street, a net-zero office development scheduled for completion in 2028.
His track record also includes the acquisition of Kadans Science Partner, establishing a major European life sciences platform, and its subsequent joint venture with Canary Wharf Group to develop One North Quay, an 823K SF life sciences research and development building.
More recently, he oversaw the acquisitions of Elstree Studios and Bry-sur-Marne Studios in Paris, expanding the platform into new growth sectors, as well as Dolphin Square, one of the UK’s largest private residential schemes, ahead of a major refurbishment and brown-to-green modernisation.
Outside work, O’Driscoll is married with three children and supports several charitable causes, with a particular focus on elderly care, children living in poverty and conservation. He has a broad interest in the arts, particularly theatre and live music, and enjoys a variety of sports, fitness, travel, good food and wine.
