New creative hub to follow £17m office deal

London-based FORE Partnership, plans to refurbish Yorkshire House on Greek Street in Leeds after buying the 83,000 sq ft building from the Apia Regional Office Fund.

The seven-storey building, which is in the heart of the city’s traditional business district, is currently home to law firm Lupton Fawcett Denison Till and IT firm Alscient but FORE intends to divide the building to create media style ‘character’ space to accommodate creative companies whilst offering corporate space on the larger floor plates.

FORE’s latest regional acquisition marks the expansion of its portfolio, which includes the redevelopment of 58 Victoria Embankment in Central London and New Telecom House in Aberdeen.

Managing partner Basil Demeroutis said: “The demand from both businesses looking for TMT (telecommunications, media and technology) office space and investors looking to fund this kind of space makes this a very compelling property opportunity.

“We are excited about taking on a building that is fundamentally good but has the potential to be made excellent. The building will be split into two products giving it a new identity in the market.”

Knight Frank and Lewis Ellis acted as agents for FORE. DTZ advised Apia.

The building will be relaunched into the market early in the New Year.

Elizabeth Ridler, office agency partner at Knight Frank in Leeds, said: “This transaction is yet another example of London investors being attracted to the strong fundamentals of regional property, especially in Yorkshire.

“It is telling that the experienced investors are now looking seriously at strategic regional acquisitions.”

The acquisition is the second office acquisition in Leeds by a London-based investor to be announced in the space of a week.

Rockspring Property Investment Managers acquired 6 Queen Street, a 70,000 sq ft speculative city centre office building site for £5.35m. It expects to spend £13.25m on the build.

The six-floor development is scheduled for completion in spring 2016 when it is expected to be worth approximately £31.25m.

It adds to the more than 6.5bn euro of assets under Rockspring’s management across Europe, which includes most of Thorp Arch Estate in Wetherby.

According to new research by property agent Lambert Smith Hampton, investment in the Yorkshire commercial property sector during the third quarter of 2014 reached £354.83m - a 91 per cent increase on the previous quarter and 18 per cent higher than in the corresponding period last year.

Meanwhile, the take-up of office space in Leeds city centre rose in the third quarter of the year, according to new figures. The Leeds Office Agents Forum said occupier activity reached 143,451 sq ft over 34 deals between July and September, 42 per cent up on the same quarter last year.