Commercial property: Aon is the new kid in the Capella block

Wirefox, advised by Savills and joint agent CBRE, has secured a new letting to Aon in central Glasgow at the prime office block development Capella.

Capella building

The professional services firm has agreed terms for the ninth floor of Capella, which is set just off the Broomielaw on York Street in the heart of the city’s financial district.

Aon will take 10,904sq ft of grade-A office space in the circa 115,000sq ft building that was built in 2009 as part of the final phase of Glasgow’s Atlantic Quay development.

The site has views over the River Clyde, excellent transport links and is close to amenities such as the St Enoch Centre.

The immediate area is undergoing significant change with pre-commitments from large financial services occupiers and new large office developments taking place.

For example, JP Morgan Chase has taken 273,000sq ft on Argyle Street, HMRC has pre-committed to 187,000 sq ft at 1 Atlantic Square, due to complete this year, and 2 Atlantic Square, which offers approximately 100,000sq ft of office space, is also on track to be finished in 2020.

Capella is undergoing refurbishment to provide new shower and changing facilities, additional bicycle racks and a maintenance area alongside a new electric vehicle charging point.

Other tenants in the building include MacRoberts – the law firm has recently confirmed an extension to its lease until 2029, and the international IT services company Atos, which has extended its lease until 2024.

Colin McGhee, associate director at Savills in Glasgow, says: “The letting demonstrates the strong demand for office space within Broomielaw.

“Capella is particularly attractive, due [to it being a] high-quality building sitting at the centre of the financial district in Glasgow, providing quick and easy access to a wide range of business, leisure and shopping facilities, including convenient rail and motorway access.

“Broomielaw has become the new business quarter in Glasgow and continues to see global businesses attracted to the area.”

McGhee believes that the changes in the area are driven by available sites but he observes that it isn’t just offices that are taking up residence nearby. He says: “With Motel One going in [Oswald Street], and Yotel and the Radisson Blu [both Argyle Street], it is all really good news. There are still bits of the jigsaw to be filled in, but we see those as pockets of opportunity.”

He says any vacant spots are attracting attention, and there is no sign of an oversupply happening.

“There is approximately 1.4 million sq ft of new grade-A offices under construction in Glasgow, and already 85 per cent of those are pre-committed.

“We know that there is over a million square feet of live demand in the city over the next three to five years, so as it stands there aren’t enough grade-A offices to meet this.”

Michael Wright, director of asset management at Wirefox, says: “We’re delighted to have secured Aon as a new tenant at Capella.

“The local area is a hive of activity and with our recent upgrade works, Capella is a highly-attractive location for high-calibre businesses to flourish”.

Todd Budgen, head of Aon Real Estate for the UK, adds: “The combination of location, excellent amenity in the immediate vicinity and the high-quality building in the heart of Glasgow’s financial district made it the perfect building for our new Glasgow office.”