Glasgow demand on the rebound

Published on Wednesday 7 July 2010 15:08

DEMAND for office space in Glasgow has rebounded from lows in 2009 as occupiers take advantage of low rents in new-top of-the-range buildings, a report found yesterday.

Office take-up in Glasgow city centre during the second quarter of 2010 more than doubled against the previous quarter to 185,066sq ft, according to property agency Jones Lang LaSalle. Total take-up for the first half of 2010 increased 116 per cent against the same period in 2009.

Headline rents have fallen from 28 per sq ft in the second quarter of 2009 to 26, according to JLL. JLL said the bulk of new lets were in new, grade-A office schemes, including moves by Maclay Murray & Spens and Ernst & Young to HF Development's G1. NFU and Strathclyde Pensions also moved to new-build offices. But the city centre vacancy rate remained steady at about 9.28 per cent, due to increased availability

Although figures have not been released on recent deals at G1, insiders have dismissed speculation that the office on George Square has hit its target of 30 per sq ft in rent. Ewan Cameron, partner at Ryden said: "We'd be delighted if it did as it would encourage developers to dust off plans for new developments."