In a staggering display of strength, Cambridge has put in a performance beyond superlatives. The red hot office market in the year to the end of June saw more than 1.8m sq ft of space transacted, up by 175% on the same period last year.
Astra Zeneca’s mammoth 715,000 sq ft prelet did swing the figures but even without this giant landing in the fens, Cambridge’s total was still up by nearly 70% on last year.
Bidwells retains its position at the top for a fourth year running, boosted by the AZ deal. As joint agents on the deal Savills sits comfortably in second place, but even with the prelet removed the firm would have remained in gold and silver position at 531,000 sq ft and 384,000 sq ft.
Both agents saw staggering increases in the space disposed with Bidwells total more than tripling and Savills up 626%.
On the up: Juniper Real Estate
In a field full of winners it is hard to pick just one agent but Juniper Real Estate’s race through the rankings since its inception in 2009 has upset the cart and won it a podium position. The duo behind Juniper, Jamie Green and Mike Ayton, both doyens of the local property scene, knocked Carter Jonas into third place. Boosting its figures was one of the city’s biggest deals, the 66,000 sq ft sale to Zurich Assurance on Cambridge Research Park in December with joint agents Bidwells. Green says: “The result brings justification to our policy of keeping a book of higher-quality, larger disposal instructions and then servicing them well. In a year where take-up was above average, we found ourselves able to offer some of the best properties in the marketplace.”
Going down: Cheffins
Cheffins dropped three places in our rankings this year from seventh in 2013 to 10th this year. It signed a respectable 14 deals in the year to the end of June but, with an average deal size of 1,165 sq ft, it missed out on the large deals floating around. Its largest deal was the 2,200 sq ft letting on Capper Road in June.
nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com
