Office space Birmingham city centre – quarter 2 2013 take-up

The quarter 2 research statistics of transactions for office space in Birmingham and Edgbaston signal fantastic news for the city with the largest transaction for offices in Birmingham city centre for 3 years.

Deutsche Bank, who has taken 134,000 sq ft at 5 Brindleyplace, remains the greatest inward success story for Birmingham office space. Not only have they re-geared their lease at 1 Brindleyplace, where the investment is for sale, last year they increased their holding in nearby Baskerville House – in addition to acquiring office space at 5 Brindleyplace this quarter.

Clearly the Deutsche Bank office letting has boosted the quarter by accounting for 60% of the 223,000 sq ft of total transactions foroffices in Birmingham. Taking this out of the equation, while the total office space transacted is below par this quarter, the average size of transaction at 3,200 sq ft is close to the norm.

Resurgence of office space in Edgbaston

After a very poor 12 months, quarter 2 has also demonstrated resurgence in transactions for office space in Edgbaston with at least seven office transactions. Office space lettings in Edgbaston have increased substantially with two lettings in excess of 6,000 sq ft – unusually high for this market.

Office space in Edgbaston demonstrates good value for money – it has now found a level substantially lower than offices in Birmingham city centre, making it attractive to occupiers. A recent example of this is hi-tech information management company, Ridgian, who has relocated from Quay Place in Birmingham city centre to over 6,000 sq ft in 54 Hagley Road offices in Edgbaston. For more on this story, see KWB nets top 3 transactions for offices in Edgbaston.

With the cost effective nature of the Edgbaston office market attracting occupiers again, having established a differential between itself and Birmingham city core, it will be interesting to see if this is a trend for one quarter only or whether it continues in future quarters.

KWB completes 31% of transactions for offices in Birmingham

Quarter 2 has also been a particularly active period for KWB, who has been involved in 31% of all transactions for office space in Birmingham by number of transactions – in effect, nine of the twenty-nine transactions.

Demand for offices in Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham still strong

There continues to be a good level of activity in peripheral locations to Birmingham city centre, such as office space in the Jewellery Quarter, which still enjoys strong demand, and Digbeth – as well as the resurgence for offices in Edgbaston. In fact, 48% of all transactions for offices in Birmingham this quarter are outside the traditional Birmingham city centre core.

See full details of the transactions for office space in Birmingham city centre and Edgbaston.