Flexible office operator snaps up first Birmingham site

Runway East has announced it will take 20,000 sq ft in Birmingham’s Arca Building on Temple Row.

The flexible office space provider has agreed a 20-year joint venture with Oval Real Estate following Oval’s acquisition of the former St Phillips Point office building in April 2022.

Oval has since renamed the building Arca and has invested £5.5m to refurbish the site into 65,000 sq ft of Grade A office space. Eos Interiors was awarded the multimillion-pound fit-out contract.

It will have space for more than 400 members who will have access to a panoramic roof terrace and free meeting spaces in the dog-friendly building, alongside benefits such as cake Wednesdays, an honest cafe and bar with donations going to charity, a Friday drinks trolley and changing facilities.

The new location is Runway East’s 10th site across the UK, adding to space in London, Bristol and Brighton.

CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield were instructed as joint agents to market the office space. Glenn Howells were the architects for the site.

Dan White, head of flex advisory, Midlands and South, at CBRE, said: “CBRE was appointed by Oval to bring the best flex office operator to the building.

“The focus was on creating a flexible workspace that was successful in its own right, whilst adding to the already stellar tenant amenity in the newly refurbished building.

“Runway East coming to the city is an exciting new addition to Birmingham’s flex market, and is a sign of the ongoing growth in demand for top quality and interesting flex space, alongside the increased confidence of landlords in the management agreement/partnership model.”