Birmingham’s central core continued to dominate the city’s office market in the first quarter of 2018, as Edgbaston, Digbeth and Eastside almost disappeared from the Q1 take-up figures, according to Birmingham-based independent commercial property agency KWB.
Edgbaston accounted for just over 2% of the 148,483 sq ft of transacted office space, with just 3,680 sq ft of lettings, while there were no transactions in Digbeth and Eastside. Only the Jewellery Quarter, with 9% of the space transacted, made a significant contribution to the Q1 figures, says Mark Robinson, Director in KWB’s Office Agency Team, writing in KWB’s Q1 2018 Birmingham Office Market Report.
Mr Robinson says: “This quarter’s figures underline that Birmingham city core really is the place to be for office occupiers, particularly for those leasing space. It’s possible that some occupiers are being drawn from fringe area office space into the city centre’s serviced offices, as many companies in these areas are the target market for flexible space.
“With yet another serviced office provider, Orega, taking a further 11,343 sq ft in the central core in Q1, added to the more than 200,000 sq ft of serviced office space transacted in 2017, it is a trend that looks set to continue,” concludes Mr Robinson.