Aberdeen's commercial property sector 'turns corner' as £30m of assets hit market

Aberdeen’s commercial property investment market may have turned the corner with more than £30 million of assets recently being brought to the market.

Property consultancy Knight Frank said the investment market in the Granite City was beginning to “return to rude health” after a dip in activity during the pandemic. The recent activity has been buoyed by the sustained high oil price, it noted.

The firm said nearly 223,000 square feet of industrial and distribution space spread over 37 units at Wellheads Industrial Estate, adjacent to Aberdeen Airport, has been put on the market for just over £18.7m. The site is home to a broad range of occupiers, including Schenker, Contract Solutions, Aberdeen Web and Babcock Mission Critical Services Offshore.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen Energy Park and Aberdeen Innovation Park are being marketed with a combined guide price of £15m. The parks consist of 200,000 sq ft of office and warehouse space spread over 13 buildings on two established campus environments of more than 120 acres.

Wellheads Industrial Estate, adjacent to Aberdeen Airport.

Recent research from Knight Frank suggested that office take-up in Aberdeen was bouncing back from the lows of the pandemic and is on track to exceed 400,000 sq ft this year - more than double 2021’s figure of 197,000 sq ft. The rebound came despite take-up easing in the third quarter. The firm noted that several transactions were underway and likely to conclude in the coming weeks.

Euan Kelly, capital markets partner at Knight Frank Scotland, said: “A lot of quality stock is becoming available to buy in Aberdeen, with activity in the North Sea picking up on the back of the high oil price. Despite the well-publicised macro-economic challenges of the past year, there is more liquidity returning to the market for assets in Aberdeen and we are seeing a lot of interest from buyers who recognise the city’s crucial role in the UK’s energy resilience, both now and in the future through the shift to renewables. With occupier activity also on the rise again, there is a lot of opportunity in Aberdeen for investors to acquire properties at very competitive yields and boost those returns through gearing.”