Birmingham’s office market has been given a much needed shot in the arm after a major letting was secured in one of the worst years in living memory.
Colliers International has secured a letting of 15,150 sq ft at Maple House, 150 Corporation Street, owned by GE Capital Real Estate.
The tenant, Westinghouse Rail Systems has taken a five-year lease at £13.50 per sq ft. Westinghouse is part of the Invensys group and develops advanced signalling and integrated control systems for the railway industry.
GE Capital Real Estate has invested more than £1.5m in the refurbishment of Maple House. Etc. Venues occupies 21,575 sq ft of the 58,315 sq ft building, while Tesco Express is resident on the ground floor. The remaining 6,500 sq ft of office space is being marketed by Colliers International and joint agents GBR Phoenix Beard.
Alex Tross, associate director in the office agency team at Colliers International, said: “Take-up during 2012 has been slow and competition to secure tenants is intense, particularly in the second hand market where there are more options than for Grade A new builds. GE Capital Real Estate’s investment in upgrading Maple House and offering realistic rents has landed them the biggest deal of the year and interest in the remaining space is encouraging.”
GE Capital Real Estate is a leading global commercial real estate company and has been an active investor in the UK market for more than 20 years. Westinghouse Rail Systems was advised by DTZ.
According to the Birmingham Office Market Forum, office take-up in central Birmingham in the first half of 2012 totalled 147,654 sq ft over 63 deals, of which, 93,081 sq ft was taken up, across 35 deals in the second quarter
Prior to this deal just two lettings of more than 10,000 sq ft were completed in the second quarter of this year in central Birmingham.
Now the Birmingham office market is facing up to the prospect that lettings this year won’t even reach half of last year’s take up and will almost certainly be the lowest total in memory. The Binding Site took an extra 14,628 sq ft of space at 8 Calthorpe Road Edgbaston, making it the largest letting of the quarter with Monarch Recruitment’s move to Temple Point in Temple Row the only other major deal.
Unless there is a significant pick up in the second half of the year, a total take up figure around the 300,000 sq ft mark would be less than half of last year’s total of 669,798 sq ft.
Last year saw The Law Society take 55,000 sq ft at The Cube and Network Rail take 52,000 sq ft at Norfolk House and Meridian House
