Latest research by global real estate consultancy CBRE shows that office take-up in Aberdeen showed significant improvement in the second quarter, with a rise to 106,579 sq ft from 36,898 sq ft in Q1 2019.
There was a total of 19 transactions, bringing the total take-up for H1 2019 to 143,477 sq ft – 20% short of the 179,421 sq ft transacted for the same period in 2018. The average letting size was 5,609 sq ft, the largest letting being Citibase taking 17,159 sq ft at H1, Hill of Rubislaw, showing further growth in the serviced office sector.
Commenting on the figures, surveyor Amy Tyler said: “The Q2 figures are encouraging and a clear sign of stronger market sentiment which we expect to continue improving. Despite a slow start in Q1, there are several deals in the pipeline, and we anticipate a strong H2 performance. Some of these deals that we expect to complete are larger lettings and we anticipate the annual take-up for 2019 will reach, if not surpass, the level achieved over the past couple of years.
“There is also a lot of activity in the oil and gas sector at the moment, with a number of mergers and acquisitions taking place. We expect this will create a number of new property requirements going forward which will lead to further activity in the Aberdeen office market.”