Edinburgh office market poised for record year

Office occupier take-up in Edinburgh is set for another record-breaking year, according to new research by property consultant JLL.

Quartermile 4, which will house FanDuel's UK head office

The firm said 193,000 square feet was transacted between July and September, up more than 30 per cent on the same period last year, with occupier take-up for the year to date sitting at 605,000sq ft.

Notable deals included the pre-let of 58,567sq ft to fantasy sports business FanDuel at Quartermile 4, the sale of 40-44 Drumsheugh Gardens extending to 28,490sq ft to Square & Crescent for residential conversion, and the letting of 11,799sq ft at Cornerstone on South Gyle Business Park to Blyth & Blyth.

JLL associate director Geoff Scott said: “The market is very buoyant and we’re seeing more good sized requirements in the capital than we’ve seen for some time.

“We expect further pre-letting activity to be announced before the year end which will continue into 2016. The shortage of available supply and the timing of new completions may prove problematic for occupiers who do not have a strategy in place.”

Scott added: “In the city centre especially, supply is severely constrained. This message is now being heard and we are seeing some occupiers with relatively distant expiries start to take action. The shortage of supply in city centre should also result in more activity in west Edinburgh aided by the tram, which has proved a major boost.

“If activity continues at the expected rate, we could well see an even better out turn than 2014, which set a ten-year high for office transactions in Edinburgh.”

There were a total of 53 deals in the third quarter, bringing the total deal volume for the year to 156. Transactions were predominantly made up of smaller deals, with an average deal size of 3,791sq ft.