A drive along the Great West Road leaves the impression that Brentford’s Golden Mile has been transmuted by a strange reverse alchemy into base metal. The empty windows of the tall office buildings that once formed the area’s commercial heart now gaze forlornly down on the M4. The drivers rushing past on this brutal swathe of concrete scarcely glance at the buildings as they plough on towards either Heathrow or central London.
Residential developers eager to supply the capital’s seemingly insatiable desire for housing have now swallowed up several of the sites that had been earmarked for ambitious office schemes. And more look set to follow.
But where does this leave the area’s commercial market? As vacancy rates rise, rents fall and office developers duck for cover, is this the end for Brentford’s office market? Or could a greater diversity of development help to revitalise the area in the long term?
James Finnis, a director at Rogers Chapman, explains that Brentford is a linear business park, “and business parks aren’t in vogue. How do you get there and where do you get your cup of coffee?” he asks. “Occupiers out there at the moment want to be in town centres.”
Other business park locations within easy reach of Heathrow, such as Stockley Park and the Bath Road in Slough, have also suffered greatly from the slump. The two most significant deals in west London in the second half of last year were to BMRB in the centre of Ealing and Bristol Myers Squibb on Arlington’s Uxbridge Business Park, which adjoins the town centre.
Jonathan Wallis, a director at Jones Lang LaSalle, argues that the lack of a major public transport hub has held Brentford back.
“Chiswick’s success has been born out of public transport, but once you’re into Brentford you’re looking at an out-of-town location,” he says. With restrictive car-parking ratios and sparse public transport provision, the area has become increasingly unattractive to office developers.
Occupiers attracted elsewhere
The rise of Stanhope’s Chiswick Park has also helped undermine Brentford, according to Damian Cronk, a partner at Strutt & Parker: “It has taken a considerable amount of the interest away from the Great West Road,” he claims. “While one office pitch is ascendant, it’s natural that another will decline.”
Perhaps even more worrying for the area, major occupiers such as Gillette and GE, which occupy offices at Vantage West, are likely to move out over the next two years. Rents have plummeted from around £28 per sq ft at the top of the market two years ago to £19 per sq ft in the most recent deal at Hermes’ 27 Great West Road. Rogers Chapman is quoting as low as £16 per sq ft at 1000 Great West Road.
Brentford’s office market was boosted earlier in the year by US engineering firm Parsons’ move from EMC2 Tower into 114,000 sq ft at the adjacent Parkview scheme. Network storage provider EMC2 is rumoured to be considering a move back to its building when break clauses on some of its other properties are due.
However, Cronk believes that largescale consolidation within the area could be at an end. “It’s difficult to see which other companies in Brentford would be likely to do that,” he says.
While office demand has sagged, two of Brentford’s most important sites have already been taken by residential developers. Housebuilder Barratt purchased the 12-acre Glaxo SmithKline site on the southern side of the M4 in August. The largest and most prominent site on the Great West Road includes the listed Wallis House and the dilapidated 1960s International House, both facing the M4.
Secretive plans for former HQ
The terms of the deal have so far been carefully protected, but it is believed the final price will be based on the type and density of development for which Barratt can gain planning permission.
The site has potential for up to 1m sq ft of offices, but while commercial space will form part of a mixed-use development, it will probably be dominated by housing. “It’s going to be a significant mixed-use scheme, residentially-led,” says Barratt Southern Region chairman Clive Fenton.
“The consultation process has just started and there’s a lot that can be done with a site like that. I’m sure there will be some office use and we know that there is demand for hotels in the area,” he adds. Wallis House will probably be refurbished to provide much of the commercial space, with the residential element located at the back of the scheme, away from the M4.
On the other side of the road, Berkeley College Homes has purchased Chelsfield’s4.5-acre Paragon site, and applied for planning permission to build 232 key worker homes and 998 study rooms as well as education facilities. Chelsfield had a planning consent to build 160,000 sq ft of offices.
It seems likely that a residential developer will acquire a third large office site in the near future. Akeler’s Equinox site lies next to Barratt’s and has permission for 300,000 sq ft of offices in a single building, but director Stephen Morgan admits that demand has been weak.
Alternative uses
“We’ve been through two major positive cycles in the office market and here we still sit,” he laments. “Our neighbours are looking at ways of extracting value. Instead of having vacant commercial sites, they are doing a development that adds to the Brentford area. Like any sensible landowner, we are exploring alternative uses.”
Nevertheless, Morgan argues that Brentford has strong potential as an office market. Its location equidistant from central London and Heathrow good labour supply, good local schools and colleges and occupiers such as Sky Television, GlaxoSmithKline and energy group Parsons all work in its favour.
A concerted effort is needed to enable Brentford to make use of these advantages, argues Alistair Elliott, a partner at Knight Frank. “Brentford needs someone to take a holistic view of development, but with so many landowners it is difficult,” he says.
The solution could lie in a greater diversity of uses, replacing the barren walls of concrete and glass that characterise the area with a more welcoming environment. “Ten years ago firms were happy to be in a location with little or no amenities. Now that’s not good enough,” claims Charles Dady, a partner at Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker. “Mixed-use is the only sensible way forward or we’ll see these sites undeveloped for another five years.”
New regeneration policies
The indications are that Brentford’s planning authority, Hounslow council, is beginning to come round to this way of thinking. Fenton says there is a feeling that Hounslow might look favourably upon change of use prompted by Barratt’s purchase. The proposed revision to PPG3, which places the onus on planners to show why an employment site should not be rezoned for residential use, is also likely to contribute to a more relaxed attitude to mixed-use development for Brentford’s office sites.
Borough planning officer Mike Jordan says that a new regeneration framework for the borough is being reviewed and that new policies will emerge early this year. However, he suggests that decisions may have to be taken on individual applications before then and that the argument for more mixed-use development will be considered carefully.
In the short term, the office market will welcome a move to mixed-use, for it reduces competition for tenants and improves the overall environment. Of course, if Brentford’s office market is revived, it will not be long before developers and agents begin to complain about a lack of sites. “There is only a certain amount of land in west London, and if all that goes for residential use it will be a problem,” says Rogers Chapman’s Finnis.
A considerable effort will be required, however, before Brentford can again enjoy the bittersweet pleasures of undersupply.
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Uxbridge saw the most completions up to December 2003 |
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Location |
Grade A supply at June 2003 |
Completions to Dec 2003 |
Average annual take-up over 5 years |
Years of supply ratio ready to occupy by Dec 2003 |
|
West London |
2,896 |
105 |
1,113 |
2.7 |
|
Uxbridge |
173 |
95 |
98 |
2.7 |
|
Ealing |
210 |
0 |
109 |
1.9 |
|
Hammersmith |
642 |
0 |
199 |
3.2 |
|
Heathrow |
745 |
0 |
285 |
2.6 |
|
Hounslow |
414 |
10 |
86 |
4.9 |
|
Staines |
712 |
– |
336 |
2.1 |
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Source: Rogers Chapman Golden Triangle Report |
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