In one of the biggest deals in the city this year King Sturge Birmingham – acting on behalf of Capital & Counties – has clinched the letting of nearly 35,000 sq ft to government agency, the Tribunals Service, at Fifty4 Hagley Road, Edgbaston.
The premises recently underwent a £15 million refurbishment.
The largest letting in Edgbaston since the Big Lottery moved to Apex House in 2006, the deal backs up predictions earlier in the year that the area is reinventing itself as an attractive destination and important part of the central Birmingham office market.
Fifty4 Hagley Road represents a new class of office accommodation available in Edgbaston at rents from £18.50 per sq ft – 40 per cent below the headline rents in the traditional core of the city centre which are reaching over £30 sq ft.
The Tribunals Service’s choice of Birmingham for its new offices is also significant as it will be the first new Administrative Support Centre (ASC).
Nigel Cockburn, estates manager for the Transforming Tribunals Programme, Tribunals Service said the decision to base the first ASC at Fifty4 Hagley Road in particular was because the premises offered the flexibility of space.
EC Harris is acting as managing agents for the Tribunals Service dealing with the fit-out and ongoing management of the leased space.
The 142,000 sq ft Grade A, office scheme is already home to Yell and O’Neill & Brennan and offers a bright central reception, air-conditioning, six new lifts and suspended ceilings with LG7-compatible lighting systems, as well as open floor plans with carpeted raised floors, new toilets and showers, and improved disabled facilities.
Jonathan Carmalt, office agency partner at King Sturge, says the Tribunals Service’s move to Edgbaston is not suprising for a public sector organisation as this area has always traditionally attracted this segment of the marketplace, with a remit to deliver best value for money.
King Sturge predicted that Edgbaston would emerge as a shining star in the central Birmingham office market and so far activity in the first half of the year has been very respectable.
Signs of Edgbaston’s regeneration is now evident with the demolition of Five Ways Shopping Centre and Calthorpe Estate’s Calthorpe House taking shape, demonstrating huge confidence in the area as the most significant speculative new build offices in the area in the past two decades.
Other occupiers to sign up to Edgbaston in the last quarter include computer games specialist, Swordfish, ACAS and O’Neill & Brennan.
