City’s office market gets off to a flying start as take-up soars

A study published today shows that a number of major companies have been seeking extra accommodation or new homes in the city over the last few months.

The Leeds office market got off to a flying start in 2013 with take-up figures for the first quarter the highest since the fourth quarter of 2003, according to new research from property firm CBRE.

Take-up of Leeds office space for the first quarter stands at 233,047 sq ft, which is already 56 per cent of the 2012 total.

Three key transactions completed in the first quarter of the year; the pre-let of 1 Sovereign Square, which totals 61,250 sq ft, to KPMG; Jet2’s parent company Dart Group has signed for 73,100 sq ft at The Mint; and Shulmans has agreed a pre-let for 15,157 sq ft at 10 Wellington Place.

Last month, Shulmans revealed that it had signed a deal to move into a ‘landmark’ new office development to be built in Leeds’ West End.

Work on 10 Wellington Place, a 35,000 sq ft five-storey building, is set to begin next month after Shulmans agreed to take around half the building on a 15-year lease.

A spokesman for CBRE said: “Smaller deals were done within developments around the city such as Broad Gate which attracted Colliers (5,317 sq ft) and The Consulting Consortium (5,220 sq ft) and Bridgewater Place’s deal with DWF for 8,378 sq ft.”

Jonathan Shires, director of the office agency at CBRE Leeds, said yesterday: “To have jumped up to 233,047 sq ft from a total of 69,061 sq ft transacted in the fourth quarter last year is incredible, and demonstrates how quickly the market can turn around when deals cross the line.

“Total available supply now stands at 1.32m sq ft, which is five per cent down from the same period last year.

“More worrying for Leeds as a whole, is the rate at which grade A office supply is falling. Availability in this sector now stands at just over 400,000 sq ft which is some 80,000 sq ft less than current named demand from comp-anies.

“Prime rents in the city centre have also increased to £25 per square foot, a 4.2 per cent increase, from the fourth quarter of 2012 with prime yields remaining unchanged at 6.75 per cent.

“As there are no new speculative developments currently under construction or on the horizon in Leeds, it is likely that occupiers who can move early will do so just to secure the best grade A stock, with others waiting for the much-anticipated major refurbishment schemes at 21 Queen Street, One Aire Street and Minerva House, which combined will add a further 110,000 sq ft to the quality supply chain.”