The City of London is accustomed to 200,000 sq ft requirements, but the same cannot be said for just about anywhere else in the UK. So to have a potential requirement of that size in a market that averages just 100,000-150,000 sq ft of take-up a year is bound to stir things up.
This is the scenario that faces Bournemouth and Poole. Banking giant Barclays, which has 2,500 staff at its 30-year-old office in Poole, is “considering its options”. In a statement, it says: “Barclays is committed to remaining in the Poole/Bournemouth region, and all options are being looked at, from modernisation of the existing premises to new-builds.”
And despite the size of the requirement, the Poole and Bournemouth area does have a number of potential sites and development opportunities.
There are three options if Barclays goes for a relocation. The first is the 79-acre regeneration of the former power station on the Hamworth Peninsula in Poole. Second is Rokscar’s St Paul’s Square scheme in Bournemouth, which has planning permission for 188 flats and 120,000 sq ft of offices. And the third is Troika’s 15-acre site on Riverside Avenue, Bournemouth.
“There are a few options, all of which have issues one way or another,” says Simon West of local agent Cowling & West, which is acting on St Paul’s Square.
For the power station site, the issue is the construction of a bridge across Backwater Channel that will connect the site with West Quay Road. Poole council has planning permission, but full funding has yet to be arranged.
At Riverside Avenue, Troika will have to gain planning consent before it presses ahead. The developer is appealing against a decision to refuse its planning application for 300,000 sq ft of offices.
But West believes there is one further issue: car-parking. “One of the advantages of the bank’s site is that it has a lot of car-parking, and it won’t get that on other sites,” he says.
The Portman Building Society, another large employer in the area, chose to remain on its original site, knocking down and rebuilding its office, but this is never an easy option.
Winning the Barclays relocation would be a major feather in the cap for any of the schemes. If it opted for Hamworth, it would inevitably speed up Poole’s regeneration. And Troika and Rokscar are equally eager, although agents believe that failure to land the requirement will not stop St Paul’s Square going ahead.
Existing offices
If the bank does decide to relocate, it will also leave the problem of what happens to its existing offices. These were purpose-built and are now old stock. West asks: “If it isn’t suitable for Barclays, then is it suitable for anyone else?”
Bill Parker, director of business space at local agent Goadsby, adds: “It needs some pretty careful thinking about what to do with it.”
If the car-parking ratio were to be maintained, the site could prove to be an attractive redevelopment opportunity for someone. Equally, if change of use could be secured, then residential might prove more lucrative.
Barclays says it is aiming to make a decision by early next year, giving the contenders less than six months to present their case. For observers, there is time to speculate at leisure.
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While there are plenty of development opportunities in Bournemouth and Poole, no developers are currently building speculatively. In fact, Simon West of local agent Cowling & West points out that there has not been any speculative development since 2001. And this is a problem, because there is a lack of grade A space, and occupiers tend to want to see a building before they commit. Bill Parker, director of business space at local agent Goadsby, says: “There have not been many prelets. The last one was three years ago, when Fortis took 60,000 sq ft. There are a number of requirements floating around for 10,000 sq ft, but the majority will be looking for a building that is ready.” HSBC is understood to be looking for offices along the Hampshire and Dorset coast, and James Prowse of Atisreal speculates that So Bournemouth and Poole have chances here, and two developers now claim to be committed to starting speculative developments: Rokscar has St Paul’s Square, which will accommodate two buildings, and Whitelock Investments has 69-89 Holdenhurst Road, a mixed-use scheme with provision for 37,000 sq ft of offices. The 1-acre site is in the process of being sold. If demand proves to be as active as agents suggest, then both schemes could be profitable for their developers. One fly in the ointment that agents are fretting over, however, is what will happen to the Portman Building Society now that it is merging with Nationwide. Portman is a major employer in the area. “Everyone is hoping that the new organisation will maintain a presence,” says West. “It would be blow to the local economy if it left.” |
