2018 will be the year when the promise of Middlesbrough’s commercial property regeneration starts to become a reality, according to the town’s most experienced commercial property agent.
Stephen Brown, Senior Partner at Dodds Brown, says that there will be so much development going on in the town next year that it will be hard to keep pace.
Mr Brown says: “2018 will see the completion of the new restaurant and leisure destination on Albert Road and Centre Square, setting the trend for the regeneration of the whole of Albert Road. The lettings to Turtle Bay and Bistrot Pierre last year (2017) were a real turning point for Middlesbrough.
“Attracting these high quality national brands was a real game-changer in terms of external perceptions of the town and we are already seeing the benefits with the opening of Lane 7 Bowling and very strong interest in the remaining restaurant / bar units opposite Centre Square, and in units along Albert Road.”
According to Mr Brown, the launch of Tees Advanced Manufacturing Park (TAMP) last month (December 2017) providing 180,000 sq ft of prime industrial and manufacturing space, and the anticipated launch of 200,000 sq ft of grade A office accommodation in Centre Square later this year will finally give Middlesbrough the grade A business space which national organisations demand.
“It may be hard to believe but there is a real shortage of quality office accommodation and business space in the town. In fact there is no grade A office space available. TAMP and Centre Square will put Middlesbrough on the map as real business location, not just somewhere to be serviced from an office in Leeds or Newcastle,” continues Mr Brown, who has worked in commercial property in Teesside for more than 30 years.
“Many of the older existing offices in the town have already been converted for hotel or residential use, or adapted for the needs of other occupiers, and the rest will follow. The Holiday Inn Express Hotel used to be office space at Cook and Endeavour Houses, while more than half of the available space at Dundas House was taken by Middlesbrough Council for its new LiveWell Centre.”
The launch of the South Tees Development Corporation and of the opportunities on the former SSI site in which so many companies have already expressed an interest has provided real hope that major employment will return to that site, but while investment in infrastructure takes place, it is established science and business parks, such as the Wilton Centre, next to the Wilton International site which will provide space for companies looking to relocate to Teesside.
Mr Brown says: “In 2017 the Wilton Centre let more than 130,000 sq ft of office and laboratory space to new and existing tenants, securing and creating more than 200 jobs at the site. 2018 is looking very promising already for new occupiers taking space. We are looking forward to a very busy year.”
