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Edinburgh office sector boost from stockbroker expansion
Edinburgh stockbroker Bell Lawrie has signed a 15-year lease on new Princes Street premises in Edinburgh in a deal property agents are hailing as one of the biggest office deals of 2008.
Bell Lawrie has taken 11,000sq ft on the third floor at 40 Princes Street, an office building developed on the site of the former C&A store by owner Redevco. The stockbroker will maintain its offices at Drumsheugh Gardens and George Street
in the capital.
Bryan Johnston, director of Bell Lawrie, said: "We are a very big firm and we are keen to expand."
Craig Watson, associate director at Jones Lang LaSalle said: "This letting is significant as it's only one of a limited number of deals over 1,000sq m (approx 10,000sq ft) this year and brings another financial operator to the building and east end of Princes Street."
He added: "The office market in 2008 has been primarily driven by the professional services sector so it is promising for Edinburgh to witness a letting of this size in the financial sector, especially given the current economic uncertainty."
The stockbroker's rent per square foot is £27, slightly lower than current so-called headline rents for Grade A buildings in the city, although property agents deny this is a sign the Edinburgh office market is slumping.
Watson said this figure was in line with the rent level the owner set when it launched the building in 2005.
Roy Durie , senior partner at Ryden, admits the office lettings market in Edinburgh is currently "terrible", but that the rent was "fair" considering the office's location on Princes Street above shops, which is considered less desirable compared with offices in Edinburgh Quay or the Exchange District where rents are typically £28 to £29.
"The deal is good for Edinburgh. We have been relying on lawyers relocating for the last two or three years. There has been less of that for a while now," added Durie.
Bell Lawrie has taken 11,000sq ft on the third floor at 40 Princes Street, an office building developed on the site of the former C&A store by owner Redevco. The stockbroker will maintain its offices at Drumsheugh Gardens and George Street
in the capital.
Bryan Johnston, director of Bell Lawrie, said: "We are a very big firm and we are keen to expand."
Craig Watson, associate director at Jones Lang LaSalle said: "This letting is significant as it's only one of a limited number of deals over 1,000sq m (approx 10,000sq ft) this year and brings another financial operator to the building and east end of Princes Street."
He added: "The office market in 2008 has been primarily driven by the professional services sector so it is promising for Edinburgh to witness a letting of this size in the financial sector, especially given the current economic uncertainty."
The stockbroker's rent per square foot is £27, slightly lower than current so-called headline rents for Grade A buildings in the city, although property agents deny this is a sign the Edinburgh office market is slumping.
Watson said this figure was in line with the rent level the owner set when it launched the building in 2005.
Roy Durie , senior partner at Ryden, admits the office lettings market in Edinburgh is currently "terrible", but that the rent was "fair" considering the office's location on Princes Street above shops, which is considered less desirable compared with offices in Edinburgh Quay or the Exchange District where rents are typically £28 to £29.
"The deal is good for Edinburgh. We have been relying on lawyers relocating for the last two or three years. There has been less of that for a while now," added Durie.
Fri, 14th Nov 2008