Office take-up soars 25% in Leeds city centre
OFFICE take-up in Leeds has soared according to Leeds Office Agents’ Forum.
680,100 sq ft of office space was involved in transactions in 2015, up 25% on the year before.
This is the second highest year on record according to the Forum, surpassed only by activity in 2013.
Q4 of the year saw the highest volume of city centre deals ever recorded. 53 deals covered a total of 267,187 sq ft, up 138% over the previous quarter.
There were five city centre deals of over 10,000 sq ft with the pre-let to Sky at Leeds Dock, totalling 97,022 sq ft, the largest letting of the year.
Harrison Goddard Foote signed a deal for 1 City Walk, the University of Leeds took space at 21 Queen Street, whilst another law firm, hlw Keeble Hawson, recently announced the take up of office space at the Capitol building at Bond Court.
Robin Beagley, partner at WSB Property Consultants, said: “Activity in the Leeds office market has exceeded our expectations – overall city centre take-up is the second highest after the record-breaking year of 2013.
“Looking ahead, with buildings 5 and 6 Wellington Place, Central Square, 6 Queen Street and 3 Sovereign Square coming on stream during 2016, the future of the city centre office market looks extremely positive.”
A similar picture was witnessed in the out-of-town office market which recorded a full year figure of 268,041 sq ft, up 13% on 2014
Four final quarter four deals were over 10,000 sq ft in the out-of-town market.
The largest deal signed was with Cascade HR at City West Business Park. They took on 16,122 sq ft.
Nick Salkeld, senior surveyor at Fox Lloyd Jones, added: “We have seen a resurgence in the out-of-town market with circa 270,000 sq ft of take-up during 2015 and a new headline rent set which is testament to the demand for improved quality of stock.
“The market will be strengthened by new development planned at Thorpe Park, WROP and Kirkstall Forge where these quality benchmarks look set to compete with the city centre stock. These schemes complement existing stock levels across the city and ensure occupiers considering Leeds will be able to choose from a wider range of quality options.”
Established in 2010, the Leeds Office Agents’ Forum includes Leeds’ major surveying firms. Its members are BNP Paribas, Carter Towler, CBRE, Colliers International, Cushman & Wakefield, Eddisons, Fox Lloyd Jones, Bilfinger GVA, JLL, Knight Frank, Lambert Smith Hampton, Ryden, Sanderson Weatherall, Savills and WSB.
