Tuckerman’s latest Victoria office space survey shows a dramatic drop in the space available, reflecting the recovery of the market there.
On April 1 there was 865,000 sq ft available, 340,000 sq ft of it air-conditioned, compared with 1.372m available on October 1 last year.
The letting at Victoria Plaza — the joint development by Greycoat London Estates, Norwich Union and British Rail — helped considerably. Salomon Brothers took 158,345 sq ft, as we reported on February 15.
Other major lettings include MEPC’s 60,000-sq ft Greycoat House, which went to unnamed clients of Reiff Diner at a rent of £5 per sq ft. The building is in need of considerable refurbishment. Letting agents were Tuckerman and Jones Lang Wootton.
At Trevelyan House, 59,000 sq ft has gone; at Blue Circle’s Portland House 33,000 sq ft; and at Glen House 40,000 sq ft. In December, the Association of Metropolitan Authorities bought 35 Great Smith Street from the PSA for £7m, as we reported on December 7.
In the immediate future, Tuckerman say that the space available should drop still further as there is 25,000 sq ft under offer at Stockley House and 55,000 sq ft spoken for at Portland House.
Terry Osborne, commercial partner at Tuckerman, sees quality buildings such as Stockley House and Portland House continuing to attract interest at between £16 and £19 per sq ft “now that the City market no longer regards position as paramount”.
However, the firm suggest that the rent gap between quality space and older buildings will continue to widen. He estimates that a further 100,000 sq ft of quality space will come on to the market this year and there is over 300,000 sq ft pa projected for 1987, 1988 and 1989.
