Warehouse to let encouraged to see big names lining up Bristol
Central Park, the warehouse to let in Bristol, has been encouraged to see that the gamble to build swanky new offices in Bristol at a time when the economy was still precarious looks set to pay off as big name companies are being lined up as tenants. In another sign that the city’s economy is recovering strongly, two of the big four accountancy firms, KPMG and PWC, are being linked with the two flagship sites, 66 Queen Square and 2 Glass Wharf.
And if the commercial sector is now recovering, the residential market is booming. Plans have gone in for another new block of flats in the Dings, while schemes in Wapping Wharf, Bristol General Hospital and Finzel’s Reach are all moving forward amid growing demand from house-hunters. George Cardale, head of residential development for Savills, said flats in new developments were selling much faster now. “At Finzel’s Reach, for example, we sold 10 in a year, now we’re selling 30 a month,” he said.
Over at Wapping Wharf where 600 flats are being built, 185 have been put on the market and more than half of those have already been snapped up. The economy was still in recession when developers Skanska and Salmon Harvester decided to build big offices at 66 Queen Square and 2 Glass Wharf, respectively without any tenants lined up in advance. Bristol was the only place outside London where such speculative building was taking place. It was a big vote of confidence in the city.
Andreas Lindelhof, managing director (development) for Skanska, said the firm chose the city because it was confident it would recover. He said: “The Bristol market will always bounce back. You have to look at the fundamentals, GDP here is always good, exceptionally good by UK standards.” But the success or failure of these high-profile schemes was always going to be seen an indicator of how well Bristol was doing, so the link to high profile firms is a positive sign.
According to commercial property agent DTZ, energy giant EDF is also seeking a big new base in the city ahead of plans to build a new nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point in Bridgwater. It is rumoured it could also be looking at 2 Glass Wharf, although the firm, which declined to comment, has been linked with numerous sites across the South West.
A spokeswoman for KPMG confirmed the blue chip firm was hunting for a new flagship Bristol office, with good transport links and a central location top of its shopping list. It has looked at both Queen Square and Glass Wharf. “Our lease on our offices at 100 Temple Street expires in December 2017 and in the run up to this renewal date we are undertaking a strategic review of our property options,” she said. “As part of this review we are looking at existing office and new build office space in Bristol and are in discussions with a number of developers to see what they can offer to us. It’s a priority for us to have a flagship office close to transport links, making it easy for our staff to use public transport to get to work and for clients to visit us in the heart of the city. We employ more than 400 people in Bristol and have invested heavily in our team here; this next step will see us make a substantial investment in Bristol and demonstrates our commitment to our clients in the city.”
PWC’s lease expires at the end of next year and industry insiders think a move to 2 Glass Wharf is on the cards, although no one at the company was available to comment.
Source: Bristol Post