EGTV: CBRE tops London disposals league

CB Richard Ellis has retained the title of London’s most active leasing agent for a second year, disposing of 1.2m sq ft more space than its closest competitor.   The agent took a 23% market share after letting more than 2.6m sq ft of offices in 176 deals, according to EG’s London Offices Market Analysis 2009 league table for central London.   CBRE’s dominance was cemented after acting for landlords Oxford Properties and UBS with second-place holder Knight Frank.   Together, they secured Japanese bank Nomura as the sole tenant at the 488,000 sq ft Watermark Place, EC4.   The bank will move back to the City from Canary Wharf later this year.   Despite leading the table, CBRE’s 2009 performance suffered in the weaker market compared with the previous year, when it acted on 3.5m sq ft of disposals to secure a 26% market share.   KF’s second place ranking in 2009 was two places higher than in 2008. It acted on 1.5m sq ft of deals.   DTZ retained third place for a second year, with its disposal of 1.4m sq ft, giving it a 13% slice of the market.   This was boosted by a 186,000 sq ft letting to News International at 3 Thomas More Square, E1.   Jones Lang LaSalle dropped two places to fourth position, but stayed ahead of Strutt & Parker, which climbed two places to bump Cushman & Wakefield out of the top five and into sixth place.   The highest climber of the year was Allsop, which in 2008 did not feature in the top 20, but which rose six places last year to rank 15th.   Drivers Jonas climbed from fourth place to top the acquisitions table for 2009 after achieving a 17% market share.   For more on this story see this Saturday’s Estates Gazette, pages 75-92.   bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com helen.roxburgh@estatesgazette.com   * Please note that the online version of page 1 of the LOMA  report for Q4 2009 has been updated for DTZ to read a split of 74:83 in disposals attributable to City:West End office location.