Grand Theft Auto producer Rockstar North is under offer to take the whole of The Scotsman’s headquarters building in Edinburgh.
In an off-market deal, Rockstar is poised to relocate to the 75,500 sq ft Barclay Building on Holyrood Road in Edinburgh’s Old Town.
The building is currently home to Johnston Press and the Scotsman Group, whose titles include The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Evening News.
The move marks an expansion for Rockstar – which will take over the whole building – and a contraction for the Scottish publishing group.
The terms of the deal are unknown, however an institutional lease is believed to have been agreed. Rents in the area hover at between £18 and £20 per sq ft. Scotsman had signed up until 2024.
It is the largest letting in Edinburgh since BlackRock took 80,000 sq ft at SWIP’s Exchange Place 1 in July 2012.
Rockstar currently occupies two floors totalling 44,000 sq ft in Calton Square on Greenside Row. The US-headquartered firm has a lease event in 2015 on its subleased space from law firm Baillie Gifford and Pillar Property. It is understood that Baillie Gifford will expand into one of the circa 20,000 sq ft floors. Rockstar will relocate to the Barclay Building later this year once refurbishment works have taken place.
The firm recently saw record sales on the September launch of its latest Grand Theft Auto V game, taking £500m within 24 hours of its release.
Meanwhile, the Scotsman Group has suffered from an industry fall in advertising and sales and is now looking for new offices to house its significantly smaller requirement of between 20,000 and 30,000 sq ft.
The Barclay Building is owned by Irish property magnate Lochlann Quinn. It is named after former owners the Barclay brothers, who owned the Scotsman titles until 2005.
Eric Young & Co advised Rockstar; Rapleys represented the Scotsman Group.
lisa.pilkington@estatesgazette.com
