Prospect House fills up … as office space in Redditch dries up
One of the few remaining options for Grade ‘A’ offices in Redditch, 32,000 sq ft Prospect House, has recently enjoyed a string of lettings, leaving potential movers within the area with nowhere to go.
Over the last 12 months, KWB has let around 16,000 sq ft within Prospect House to four new occupiers including Dataled, Quattro Pensions, Open Range IT and Fairway Training. This follows their acting on behalf of Aberdeen Asset Management in the sale of the investment to Loxton Developments, who retained the NHS within 10,000 sq ft of office space within the building.
The remaining office suites at Prospect House range from 500 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft, with total availability amounting to only 1,500 sq ft of office space.
The result of last year’s out-of-town office market boom is that various areas of greater Birmingham are running low on office stock. We have seen this most prevalent in Bromsgrove, but we now see that Redditch is a close second.
Elsewhere in Redditch, 2013 saw Capita take Unit 3 of Brooklands, the largest transaction for offices in Redditch that year, totalling 7,100 sq ft. Then, last year, Alliance Shipping acquired all 5,200 sq ft of Unit 4, resulting in the Brooklands office scheme being fully occupied.
In terms of offices to buy in Redditch, KWB only has Unit 9 and 10 of Chestnut Court available, where the two units have been combined to provide 3,150 sq ft of self-contained office space within a courtyard setting. KWB is also marketing St Stephen’s House, a significant building of offices in Redditch town centre. The property, which is available to rent only, offers 2,000 – 30,000 sq ft of office space.
KWB’s Malcom Jones (pictured right) said, “The drought of available office space in Redditch is a call to action for commercial property developers and property owners to refurbish any existing stock that may be left in the area and to consider new build office schemes.
“Bromsgrove is effectively already in a situation of having no space available for office occupiers, and Redditch is very much headed in the same direction.
“We urge developers considering such options to get in contact. We have demand from occupier enquiries within the market for this area that currently cannot be fulfilled. There is untapped potential for excellent returns on investment here, and in other areas of the Birmingham and Greater Birmingham office market.”
Mike Hargreaves, Managing Director of Coltham Developments Ltd, whose property interests have included Brooklands and Chestnut Court, commented:
“We’ve been delighted with the occupiers that KWB has brought to our office schemes in Redditch. We’ve worked with KWB for many years on numerous development schemes – they have an in-depth knowledge of local markets and occupiers. We know that, with their strong regional coverage and focus on office properties, we will get good returns on our investments – they’re in good hands.”
KWB is keen to work with commercial property developers and landlords who are considering new office schemes, refurbishing existing space, or who have upcoming vacant office space in Redditch and surrounding areas.
For more information, please contact Malcolm Jones on 0121 212 5992 or by email.
