Leading real estate advisor CBRE has announced the launch to market of Portcullis House in Glasgow, representing a rare opportunity to acquire a detached office building in the heart of the city with extensive redevelopment opportunities.
Located at 21 India Street, Portcullis House occupies a substantial heritable island site of 0.826 acres. The property extends to approximately 99,782 sq ft across lower ground, ground, and six upper floors, and benefits from a short term lease until 1 April 2021.
Located yards away from Charing Cross railway station and in close proximity to prominent developments including Scottish Power’s 220,000 sq ft HQ, Starwood Capital’s 172,000 sq ft St Vincent Plaza development and Moda Living’s build-to-rent development on the former Strathclyde Police HQ, the site offers significant potential for a large, mixed-use development.
An initial feasibility study led by Cooper Cromar Architects has been undertaken to identify redevelopment opportunities subject to necessary consents, with options including mixed use sites comprising office, hotel and build-to-rent accommodation, or a landmark office building up to 275,000 sq ft.
Andy Cunningham, a senior director at CBRE commented: “The launch to the market of Portcullis House represents an exceptionally rare opportunity to secure a centrally located property, with a number of options to reposition the building via full-scale redevelopment and the potential to significantly increase the net useable accommodation.
“With 682,376 sq ft of Grade A space under construction in the city and 72% already pre-let or pre-sold to the likes of HMRC, Virgin Money & JP Morgan, the availability of new Grade A space is critically low with only 28% of new build stock available.
“There is significant demand for a new flagship development in the city and Portcullis House is ideally located for such a project. The opening of Scottish Power’s HQ in 2017 brought an additional 1500 employees to the vicinity, while other notable neighbouring occupiers with a large workforce include Santander and KPMG.
“The feasibility study carried out on behalf of Mapeley identifies the significant potential of the site, with the opportunity to create Glasgow’s first iconic mixed-use development in the style of Manchester’s Spinningfields or Birmingham’s Brindleyplace – a hugely appealing draw for potential occupiers.”
Current availability levels in Glasgow city centre are representative of an under-supplied market, with an overall availability rate of 7.9%, whilst Grade A vacancy is at its lowest level since CBRE records began with an availability rate of just 0.04%.
Portcullis House benefits from floorplates typically extending to 12,717 sq ft. The office floors are filled with natural light and upper floors offer some of the best panoramic views of the park area and Glasgow University to the west. The building includes 12 secure car parking spaces, with an adjacent multi story car park operated by Glasgow City Council providing over 430 secure spaces on flexible and long term arrangements. The surrounding area offers a wide range of bars, restaurants and cafes, with Glasgow’s main shopping precincts within walking distance.
Offers are invited, subject to missives and exclusive of VAT, for the heritable interest in the property. The property will be sold subject to a short term lease from The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government until 1 April 2021 at a rent of £500,000 per annum exclusive of VAT.