HSBC deal pushes Birmingham office lettings to a new high
TAKE-up figures for the central Birmingham office market reached a new quarterly high in Q2 2015, thanks in no small part to the deal which saw bank HSBC commit to 212,000 sq ft at the, as yet unbuilt, 2 Arena Central.
Lettings for the quarter totalled 521,136 sq ft in 40 deals, according to figures produced by the Birmingham Office Market Forum.
Other significant deals during the period were the 46,000 sq ft taken by Birmingham City University at Eastside Locks, the 34,397 sq ft taken by Extra Energy at 54 Hagley Road and the 22,000 sq ft taken by law firm Shakespeares at 1 Colmore Square following its merger with SGH Martineau.
Added to the 123,760 sq ft achieved in quarter one, the half yearly total is 644,896 sq ft in 70 deals.
That figure compares very favourably with last year when the half yearly figure was 216,094 sq ft. Indeed the 2014 annual total of 713,460 sq ft, itself the highest annual total since 2008, is nearly in sight with two quarters to go.
The Q2 2015 figure likely represents the city centre lettings market’s best ever quarter – certainly the best since property agents have collectively collated the figures.
