Following the relocation to 1000 Lakeside two years ago Portsmouth News publisher Johnston Press has appointed Holloway Iliffe & Mitchell to market the newspaper’s three former sites in Hilsea totalling some 40,000 sq ft.
Half the space is made up of the main newspaper offices, purpose built approximately 40 years ago specifically to house one of the region’s key titles. Much of the space is open plan office accommodation within a secure site which includes parking. The remaining buildings are made up of a substantial self-contained warehouse/storage unit and three smaller buildings including further offices, temporary storage facility and a yard.
These prominent buildings, located to the north of Portsea Island, form part of the paper’s main printing press site and are available as a whole or individually on new leases.
Holloway Iliffe & Mitchell director Stuart Mitchell comments: “These buildings have a lot of history attached to them having been original constructed for the Portsmouth News and the paper is still printed here. While the major office accommodation could remain as such, potential occupiers may well seek alternative uses for some of the other buildings on the site and with available space becoming harder to find there has already been plenty of interest in the site.”
Karl Dimmock, Managing Director of Johnston Press South said: “This is an exceptional location on a highly visible route in and out of the city. We were sorry when the publishing disciplines had to leave the site after such a long history there, but the changing face of publishing and the need to respond to the economic downturn meant that we were not fully utilising this great space. We have invested significantly in modern ‘neighbour-friendly’ printing facilities and because of the importance of this facility our colleagues managing the printing business remain on site.”
Rapleys has been appointed joint agent on all three sites.
