The largest Grade A office letting within Central Nottingham for three years has been confirmed by BMO Real Estate Partners Limited with confirmation that the letting of One Royal Standard Place to The University of Law (“ULaw”) has now completed.
BMO Real Estate Partners managed the multi million pound refurbishment of the property on behalf of their Clients, IRP Holdings Limited, completing their third and largest refurbishment project within Central Nottingham following the success at Park View House on The Ropewalk and 37 Park Row which were completed in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
The building has been let in its entirety to The University of Law, the UK’s longest established provider of legal education. This will be the university’s 10th campus with plans to offer its renowned courses from September 2019.
It is understood that ULaw have committed to a long term lease on the property and whilst the terms of the transaction have not been confirmed it is understood that the deal was agreed at a rental level at or around the asking rental of £20 per ft².
Caroline Churchill, Director of Estates for The University of Law confirmed:-
“We regard Nottingham as the perfect place for ULaw to build on the strong links we have built over the years with the legal profession in the area.. complements the profile of our ten centres elsewhere within the country. When searching for our next building we seek to identify high quality buildings which are located within the Business District of this City in order to give our Graduate and Post Graduate Students an environment which replicates a modern working office.
The building at One Royal Standard Place was the standout option for us to be able to establish ourselves within a professional position in a Grade A building of this size. We are very excited to be bringing our career-focused, professional courses to such a vibrant and well-connected city”.
It is understood that Contractors are now onsite to enable the building to be ready well in time for the start of the academic year in September 2019.
Simon McIntosh at BMO Real Estate Partners has now managed three Grade A refurbishments within the City and he confirmed:-
“Nottingham is a City which we earmarked as one of the major regional cities within the UK hence the reason that we have encouraged our Investor’s Funds into the City. The lack of speculative development throughout the provinces within the UK has given the opportunity for us to be able to be at the forefront of providing Grade A offices through refurbishment and working with FHP and JLL we have been successful in both lifting the quality of offices within the City and the general rental tone”.
The building was originally built in the early 1990s for Eversheds Solicitors who relocated in 2017. The refurbishment has transformed the quality of the building lifting the “bar” on the standard of refurbishment implemented within the City.
John Proctor at FHP’s Nottingham Office brokered the deal on behalf of BMO working alongside James Keeton at Joint Agents at JLL. John confirmed:-
“The office market within Nottingham has had to, as a legacy of the recession, fight off the increased demand which has been driven by the in town demand for both private residential and student residential premises. We are now seeing increased confidence within this sector and on an annual basis a healthy level of refurbishment implemented within the City. What sets BMO apart is that they have been groundbreaking with their refurbishments and have been prepared to invest to a greater extent than others and providing offices of a similar quality that one finds regularly within the likes of London, Birmingham and Manchester. BMO through this strategy have reaped the rewards and this significant letting hopefully brings us one step closer to the elusive Holy Grail – new build speculative offices within Central Nottingham”.
James Keeton added: “It is great to see another speculative office refurbishment let to a single occupier and a new high for headline rent in the city. It has been satisfying working alongside BMO in Nottingham over the past few years, as they have led the office refurbishment market in Nottingham. Pulling influence from other projects across the UK, they clearly understand that quality of design and delivery is paramount. Backed by the financial resource to deliver these projects speculatively, this has yet again been rewarded with a high profile long term letting’
The University of Law were advised by Mark Kleinman of James Andrew International whose niche practice specialises in the acquisition of office premises throughout the UK.
