Take-up in the Thames Valley is nearing record levels, with almost 200,000 sq ft of lettings this week.
Charles Dady, head of Cushman & Wakefield’s Thames Valley office, said that take-up in the region had already reached 595,000 sq ft this year. The likelihood of more completions during the next week is set to push Q1 take-up beyond the eight-year high of 635,000 sq ft, seen in the final quarter of 2006.
Deals close to being signed include: Exton Estates’ and Royal London Asset Management’s letting of their 48,880 sq ft Luminaire scheme in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to pharmaceuticals group Steifel at £31 per sq ft and Hines’ and Hermes’ 34,000 sq ft letting at Hyde Park Hayes in Middlesex to global spread-betting group IG Index at £18 per sq ft.
The IG letting includes an 8,000 sq ft data centre at HPH2: The Courtyard – the first phase of the 450,000 sq ft Hyde Park Hayes.
Elsewhere in the region, German airline Lufthansa has taken 17,500 sq ft at Orbit Developments’ Heathrow Boulevard on Bath Road, West Drayton, Middlesex, at £20 per sq ft. And Norwegian gas services group Petroleum Geo-Services is close to completing its 70,000 sq ft letting at PRUPIM’s The Heights in Weybridge, Surrey, where quoting rents are £28.50 per sq ft.
C&W’s Q1 take-up figures include the completion of three 100,000 sq ft-plus lettings to Yell, Jacobs and Zurich.
Strutt & Parker and Lambert Smith Hampton advised Exton/RLAM. Altus Edwin Hill and Knight Frank acted for Hines/Hermes. Drivers Jonas represented IG Index. Jones Lang LaSalle represented Orbit Marriotts acted for Lufthansa KF acted for PGS and King Sturge and CB Richard Ellis advised PRUPIM.
