Posted on April 1, 2011 by John Cronin
A first letting has been secured at a large, speculative office scheme in Maidenhead.
Product bar-coding and ID specialists Zetes have agreed to lease 13,300 sq ft on the ground floor of the Horizon office scheme in Hurley, Maidenhead. The Grade A rated, 3-storey building offers total floor space of 82,500 sq ft with large floor plates of 28,000 sq ft. The building also includes a cafe/breakout area and shared gym facilities.
Following the letting, 10,995 sq ft of floor space remains unoccupied on the ground floor along with 26,626 sq ft available on each of the upper 2 floors. The building is one of several offices owned by Commercial Estates Group who manage a combined total of 3.5m sq ft of floor space.
The Horizon building has been unoccupied since completion in 2008 and underwent a rebranding and marketing relaunch last November. Although at the time quoted rental prices were £20 / sq ft this first letting has been secured at a rental price of £18 / sq ft. The length of the lease has not been disclosed.
Zetes plan to relocate from offices in Ascot in September after a design and fit-out programme by Maris International is completed. Zetes was granted planning permission for an additional ground floor entrance by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in March.
James Hannay, Senior VP for Northern Europe at Zetes said: “…the company is growing very fast and the office premises and well placed location we have chosen perfectly suits our expanding business requirements.”
Lambert Smith Hampton and Hanover Green are jointly marketing the scheme.
Posted in Berkshire |
Tagged Rental Prices, Speculative Developments, Transactions |
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Posted on March 31, 2011 by John Cronin
A former mill workers hostel in Ancoats, east Manchester is to be converted into an incubation hub for small and medium sized businesses.
The North West Development Agency (NWDA) has accepted a bid from construction company northerngroup to redevelop Jactin House (pictured). NWDA had previously instructed agents Lambert Smith Hambert to market the property as part of an £8m portfolio of commercial assets.
The 40,000 sq ft, 4-storey empty building is to be converted into a mixed-use scheme that will include quality office accommodation, residential apartments, a nursery, cafe and a gym with a swimming pool in the basement. Phase 1 will see the redevelopment of the existing building to create collaborative office accommodation, to be marketed as “incubation units” for start-up and medium sized businesses. Serviced office facilities will be available from single person workstations upwards.
Phase 2 of the development is a proposed new-build office and residential building. The speculative development will include Grade A offices with large floor plates. While the central Manchester office market offers plenty of Grade A rated floor space, the scheme will be the first in Ancoats to offer high-grade space.
Nathan Ezair, northerngroup director, said: “[Ancoats] is generally cheaper and we offer plentiful car parking provision too. The problem lies where businesses outgrow their offices and want larger provision – we don’t want to see Ancoats lose them so we came up with a solution”.
According to the New East Manchester regeneration company, the Ancoats area of east Manchester is “fast developing” as a commercial hub for start-up and expanding businesses. Many of the former mill buildings are being converted into commercial premises offering both retail and office space. It is estimated that Ancoats could offer approximately 550,000 sq ft of commercial floor space.
Construction work at Jactin House is scheduled to start in January 2012.
Posted in Manchester |
Tagged Renovations, Serviced Offices, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on March 30, 2011 by John Cronin
An agreement to develop a mixed-use scheme in Wandsworth that will include speculative office space has been announced.
Property developer Mount Anvil has entered into an agreement with office space provider Workspace Group to develop the £80m Wandsworth Business Village scheme (pictured).
The proposed development on a 2-acre site on Broomhill Road will include 80,000 sq ft of office space along with 209 new apartments, of which 53 will be managed by Octavia Housing Association.
Workspace Group received planning permission for the scheme in 2010 after initially submitting the plans in 2007. Described as a “high-density” development, the scheme will consist of 7 buildings, the tallest being no higher than 16-storeys. Existing buildings on the site that was once a gas mantle factory are to be demolished.
A public consultation was held in advance of the planning decision. Objections were raised relating to the height of the main tower and the imbalance between residential accommodation compared to the smaller area of commercial floor space. The new development gives an increase of approximately 10,000 sq ft of retail and commercial floor space compared to the existing buildings.
Mount Anvil is to fund and manage the redevelopment that is expected to start in April. A target completion date of summer 2014 is scheduled. Workspace will take responsibility of the new business centre and will offer serviced office facilities. Workspace will also retain the overall freehold of the site.
Architects for the scheme are Rolfe Judd. A BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’ is expected.
Posted in London |
Tagged Demolitions, Serviced Offices, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on March 29, 2011 by John Cronin
A unique, eco-friendly office and residential scheme in Leeds is seeing healthy growth in the occupancy rate after opening late last year.
The landmark, multi-award winning Greenhouse scheme in Beeston, Leeds is a mixed-use development of 172 residential apartments and 15,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation.
Within 12 months of completion the speculative office development is now running at an occupancy rate of approximately 70%, reports indicate.
The conversion of a former art-deco hotel by sustainable property developers Citu began in 2004. Constructed using a variety of eco-friendly technologies the Greenhouse office space is claimed to offer reductions in energy consumption of up to 65%, along with a reduced carbon footprint.
The office space is spread over 4 floors within the building and space from a single workstation up to suites of 4,900 sq ft is available to let. Quoted rental prices are in the range £15 / sq ft – £16 / sq ft. The building is multi-let to tenants from a variety of industries such as architecture practices and digital media companies. A conferencing suite is also available to hire.
Despite winning several awards, the scheme which is located in a neglected area of Leeds, has not been without its critics. The development has been called a “gated community” and “..an attractive, rather alien, self-referentially superior, lump of architecture”. In response, Fraser Stride, Director of Citu said: “Greenhouse provides a home and offices for hundreds of people, and as with any commercial or residential development we must offer residents the security that they’d expect from any other building they’d choose to live or work in”.
Architects for the scheme are West and Machell.
Posted in West Yorkshire |
Tagged Renovations, Rental Prices, Serviced Offices, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on March 28, 2011 by Rob Powell
Local planners have given permission for a major office refurbishment in Richmond upon Thames.
The redevelopment of 48,000 sq ft Thames Link House, adjacent to Richmond railway station, will create modern, air conditioned offices with a new lift, ceilings, carpeting, larger reception and cleaned brick work.
AXA REIM on behalf of Friends Life Assurance Society Limited are behind the scheme which will start this summer and is expected to take a year to complete.
The proposal was backed by Richmond Council’s Planning Committee on 17th February. Councillors felt that the refurbishment of the building, including the cleaning of the brickwork and replacement of windows, would improve the appearance of the building.
Kevin Mersh of Capita Symonds, joint agents with Martin Campbell, comments: “Thameslink House will be the first major HQ office building to come to the market for many years offering prime space adjacent to one of the busiest transport interchanges outside Central London. Given the extent of the works we are confident the building will appeal the major occupiers in the area”
Once completed, the scheme is expected to achieve a BREAAM rating of “Excellent”
Find serviced offices in Richmond.
Posted in London |
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Posted on March 28, 2011 by John Cronin
A large business park in Cambridge has been sold in a multi-million pound deal according to market reports.
Commercial property developers and investors SEGRO have sold the IQ Cambridge business park to real estate investors Mountgrange. Rumours of a pending deal were first reported in February and it now seems that a transaction in excess of £10m has been agreed for the speculative scheme that is located 5 miles away from the city centre.
The IQ Cambridge business park (formerly Cambridge Research Park) was one of a portfolio of office-based schemes owned by SEGRO. The company also owns the Foster and Partners-designed, 90,000 sq ft IQ Farnborough office complex.
IQ Cambridge is a 112-acre parkland site that is partially developed and offers Grade A office space in low-level buildings. There is also planning consent for a hotel and further office space that if developed could increase floor space to approximately 400,000 sq ft. With the potential addition of new laboratory buildings the whole business park could amount to 600,000 sq ft.
Predominately occupied by technology companies, IQ Cambridge is marketed as a technology / R&D centre. The site also includes the Boardwalk Centre, a “state-of-the-art” conference facility with 4 conference rooms and on-site management services. Rental prices for office space within IQ Cambridge are available on application. A promotion that ended in December offered 6-month rent free periods to new tenants signing 5-year leases.
Gary Hall, Operations Director for construction company Wates, a recent tenant taking 2,500 sq ft of floor space at IQ Cambridge, said: “IQ Cambridge offered us the benefits of a Cambridge base without the town centre congestion.”
Marketing agents include Savills and Bidwells.
Posted in Cambridgeshire |
Tagged Business Parks, Speculative Developments, Transactions |
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Posted on March 25, 2011 by John Cronin
Developer St. Modwen has been granted full planning permission for the first office scheme within the proposed Firepool development in Taunton.
Having received outline permission for the mixed-use Firepool development last September, St. Modwen are now able to start work on the first office building. Permission has been granted for a 21,950 sq ft office building that is expected to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’.
St. Modwen have already secured a pre-let agreement for the offices with renewable energy and waste management company, Viridor. Viridor are to relocate 100 staff to the new, headquarters style offices, with a target completion date of summer, 2012. Construction work is expected to start next month. The company has agreed to a 20-year lease but it is not disclosed if the quoted rental price of £17.50 / sq ft was achieved. Viridor are the first commercial tenants to sign-up for floor space within the Firepool scheme. It is reported that further office construction will only start when pre-lets are agreed.
Gareth Griffith, Estate Manager for Viridor, commented: “Moving to new head office accommodation is an important step in meeting the future needs of the business within a top-quality development. It is part of our programme to upgrade support facilities throughout the UK, and follows recent moves into new regional offices in Kent and Taunton.”
Firepool is a joint venture between St. Modwen and Taunton Deane Borough Council and is the first phase of the redevelopment of Taunton town centre. When complete, Firepool will offer approximately 500,000 sq ft of offices along with residential accommodation and retail units.
Posted in Somerset |
Tagged Planning, Rental Prices, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on March 24, 2011 by John Cronin
A revised proposal for a multi-storey office scheme by Blackfriars Bridge in London has been granted planning permission.
The 20-storey office scheme (pictured), coupled with ground level retail units and a separate residential apartment building was granted planning permission by Southwark’s planning committee this week. The speculative scheme will offer approximately 314,300 sq ft of office floor space with maximum floor plates of about 12,000 sq ft.
The £60m scheme is being developed by Great Portland Estates (GPE) in a 50:50 joint venture, known as Ropemaker Property, with the BP Pension Fund. The site at 240 Blackfriars Road was purchased from GPE for an initial payment of £20.5m. Planning permission was granted after the developers agreed to additional section 106 payments, used to fund local projects and services.
Existing office buildings on the site, amounting 34,300 sq ft were demolished in 2008. These existing offices were purchased in late November 2005, with GPE paying vendors Royal London Asset Management £11m. KPMG were the previous main occupiers, paying an annual rental of £345,000.
The office building will incorporate various energy-saving measures such as a biomass boiler for renewable energy and a ‘chilled ceiling’ cooling system. A BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’ is expected.
GPE announced the restart of the mothballed project in November 2010 and have given a target completion date of June 2013. There are no reported pre-let agreements and rental prices are to be confirmed.
Architects for the scheme are Allford Hall Monoghan Morris. Marketing agents are DTZ.
Posted in London |
Tagged Demolitions, Skyscrapers, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on March 23, 2011 by John Cronin
A new letting has been secured at a landmark office scheme in Milton Keynes.
International paper merchant Paperlinx has recently agreed to a lease for 7,711 sq ft of floor space within the award-winning Pinnacle office scheme in central Milton Keynes.
This latest letting takes the occupancy rate at the building to approximately 70%, although the official website does not yet reflect the latest letting. The Pinnacle is a £70m speculative office scheme and was completed in July 2009 by joint developers Hampton Brook and Aberdeen Property Investors. Total, Grade A floor space amounts to 250,000 sq ft of which 75,000 remains vacant. Among the other tenants, accountancy firm Deloitte and law firm Denton Wilde Sapte both agreed to pre-let agreements.
Described by the developers as “most prestigious development to arrive on the business landscape of Milton Keynes for more than 25 years”, the scheme was the first office complex in Milton Keynes to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’. The building was a winner of the Office Development Awards for Sustainable Achievement. The scheme consists of two buildings, The Pinnacle and The Mews. The smaller Mews building offers a range of self-contained offices with suites within the whole scheme starting at 5,000 sq ft. Quoted rental prices are £21.50 / sq ft.
Commenting on the latest letting, Ian Jackson, a Director of Hampton Brook said: “PaperlinX were initially attracted to The Pinnacle because of the high quality of offices the building provided, its stunning location and excellent communications for their staff.”
Marketing agents include Lambert Smith Hampton.
Posted in Buckinghamshire |
Tagged Rental Prices, Transactions |
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Posted on March 22, 2011 by John Cronin
Commercial property investor Wainbridge has secured the purchase of 3 office schemes located in London and Bristol.
Wainbridge, a boutique investment management firm focusing on real estate, has spent £39m on the office schemes on behalf of the Wainbridge Global Opportunities London (WGOL) property fund. The office schemes are located in London, Croydon and Bristol and offer a combined floor space of 264,858 sq ft.
The London office scheme consists of 3 adjoining office buildings in Chenies Street, Fitzrovia (pictured) providing 60,670 sq ft of floor space that is fully let to marketing group Omnicom until 2016. The purchase price for the offices was £24.5m and Wainbridge is to undertake a £4.5m refurbishment programme.
The Croydon office is the multi-let, 112,329 sq ft Sunley House building. The 12-storey premises, purchased from the receivers for £11m, are currently running at an occupancy rate of 67%. Tenants include Zurich Insurance and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The modern, Grade A rated building underwent a £4m refurbishment programme in 2008. Sunley House is near to the No1 Croydon scheme, a 166,500 sq ft landmark office building that Waingate purchased in November, 2010.
Wainbridge also purchased a Bristol offices scheme in a tied deal linked to the Croydon scheme. The 91,859 sq ft, 15-storey Froomsgate office building is located in Bristol city centre, adjacent to the commercial district. The offices, purchased for £3m, are currently running at an occupancy rate of 74%. Wainbridge is planning to convert the offices to a student accommodation facility (pdf link).
Posted in London |
Tagged Renovations, Serviced Offices, Transactions |
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