The Leeds Office Agents Forum (LOAF) has released data revealing that a total of 99,348 sq ft of city centre offices was taken up across 23 deals in the second quarter of 2024 (from April to June).
A major city centre letting in this quarter was to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, who took 43,731 sq ft of offices at Joseph’s Well, making it the biggest deal in the first half of the year.
Other notable deals included the 7,106 sq ft sale of Victoria Foundry (part of the Round Foundry scheme) to Impex Parts and the 6,770 sq ft letting at 4 Wellington Place to Allianz.
At the halfway point of 2024, city centre office take-up totalled 348,332 sq ft, a decrease of only 15% compared to the same period last year.
Chris Hartnell, partner at Carter Jonas, commented: “We have continued to witness a race for some of the best remaining city centre space, with only Vastint delivering new buildings at Aire Park.
“In the city centre, we saw prime rents of £38 per sq ft once again achieved and the forum believes it will only be a matter of time before £40 per sq ft is reached as the relatively limited supply of new offices tightens further.”
The Leeds out-of-town market experienced an uptick in occupier activity compared to the previous quarter, with 46,752 sq ft of offices taken up across 25 deals.
The largest deal to complete was at Turnberry Park in Gildersome, where logistics company Future Forwarding took 6,105 sq ft.
Matt Procter, senior surveyor at LSH, added: “In contrast to the city centre, healthy supply levels exist in the out-of-town market, although rents can vary quite dramatically. Notwithstanding this, a strong rent of £24 per sq ft was achieved, and we saw a good number of deals from a broad range of occupiers concluded.”
Members of the Leeds Office Agents’ Forum include Avison Young, BNP Paribas Real Estate, Bowcliffe, Carter Towler, Carter Jonas, CBRE, Colliers, Cushman & Wakefield, Fox Lloyd Jones, JLL, Knight Frank, Lambert Smith Hampton, Sanderson Weatherall, Savills, and WSB.
