A record final quarter in 2014 helped the Bristol office market experience the largest annual increase in take-up since 2007, according to the latest quarterly report from CBRE, the leading commercial property and real estate services advisor.
Total office take-up in Bristol city centre was 836,800 sq ft during 2014, an increase of 61% from 2013 (507,773 sq ft). This was largely helped by a record final quarter, which included the six largest transactions for the year and accounted for 48% of the annual total.
Peter Martin, Associate Director, Agency and Development at CBRE Bristol, commented: “With the full year total for office take-up in the city centre just over 80% up on the five year average, these results show that Bristol is one of the best placed cities to take advantage of the improving economic conditions.”
In total there were 18 transactions over 10,000 sq ft in 2014, with the largest deal in size the letting of 1 Rivergate to Ovo Energy, comprising 69,700 sq ft. This was followed by the letting of 52,000 sq ft to KPMG at 66 Queen Square and 46,000 sq ft to Mapfre at 1 Victoria Street.
Echoing the strong performance in the city centre market, take-up of out of town office space in 2014 also saw a big rise from the previous year. Total take-up was 429,600 sq ft, compared to 229,858 sq ft in 2013, with the acquisition of TSB by Keypoint at Almondsbury (63,000 sq ft) the largest transaction for the year and the biggest in North Bristol for seven years.
However, CBRE is forecasting a challenging start to 2015 despite the strong end to last year. Peter added: “There were nine transactions for Grade A accommodation in the city during 2014 and we expect take-up during this year to be at similar levels with the remaining space (c.78,000 sq ft) at Bridgewater House understood to be under offer and strong interest in the remaining 70,00 sq ft of space at 2 Glass Wharf.
“The major issue for Bristol at the start of this year is the lack of Grade A stock under construction in the city. As a result, we anticipate there will be limited opportunities for investors to acquire prime assets in 2015.”
