Location 66 Queen Square
Size 61,000 sq ft offices
Value £12.8m build cost
Developer Skanska
Rents Guiding £29.50 per sq ft
Status On site with ground works and foundations, framework begins spring 2014
Completion May 2015
• Swedish-owned Skanska’s choice of Bristol for its first speculative office development in a UK regional city is a shot in the arm for the local market.
“They looked at several cities and chose Bristol because of its prospects, which was a tremendous vote of confidence – that is why this scheme must deliver,” says Simon Price of Alder King, who is working with Jones Lang LaSalle to sell Skanska’s new space at 66 Queen Square.
Skanska for its part is very upbeat and development manager Kelly Iles says: “The building is progressing extremely well.”
The project is creating large, modern floorplates for the area, but behind a listed façade. Price says the interest this is attracting leads them to be “optimistic” about lettings during 2014.
David Mace of GVA says the scheme is in “a great location” and it is one he believes stands a chance of being let to a single occupier.
Chris Grazier, director of Hartnell Taylor Cook, agrees: “It’s a lovely location.” But he raises the possibility that targeting smaller occupiers for a relocation to larger space, coupled with its earlier stage of development, could make it a “harder sell”.
Location Finzels Reach, former Courage Brewery site
Size Total 1m sq ft mixed-use
commercial/residential scheme – next phase originally consented for 170,000 sq ft offices, 90,000 sq ft retailValue £150m when fully built
Developer Cubex
Funder Palmer Capital
Status Ongoing review, public realm works on site from January 2014
Completion Mid-2016
•After grinding to a halt under its previous ownership, the waterside development of Finzels Reach is set to re-emerge onto the property stage during 2014.
Cubex director Gavin Bridge says this year will see it relaunching the scheme with a fresh armoury of website, brochures and marketing suite. Other key aims will be a focus on letting existing vacant space and making a start on £3m of public realm works. Plans for new development, meanwhile, will be revisited.
“The local property market has been encouraged by all this,” Bridge says, “and the mayor’s office has been very supportive.”
Martin Booth, partner of Knight Frank – one of the Finzels Reach agents – says the beginning of 2014 was going to be a period of “working very hard on taking forward a review of the elements”.
There is a consensus among city agents that existing space at Finzels Reach will be let before any new development takes place. But there is a welcome for progress made.
Andrew Batchelor, partner at Hartnell Taylor Cook, says: “It had stagnated, but now there is increased momentum.”
GVA’s David Mace says: “It was very negative, but now it’s good news that it is moving forward.”
Location Two Glass Wharf, Temple Quay
Size 100,000 sq ft offices with ancillary retail and restaurant space
Value £45m
Developers Salmon Developments and NFU Mutual as Salmon Harvester Properties
Rents Quoting £28 per sq ft
Status Development began September 2013
Completion November/December 2014
• Salmon Harvester is cracking on with its speculative development in the Temple Quay area – the first such project in Bristol for four years. With a scheduled late 2014 completion, it is due to be the first of several schemes under way to actually deliver space.
Rorie Henderson, development director at Salmon, says the company is hopeful of finding occupiers for all the space before practical completion.
Simon Price, partner with scheme agent Alder King, believes other developers will keep a close eye on the project to see how it performs.
Other city agents welcome Two Glass Wharf. GVA regional senior director David Mace says: “It’s one to watch and it will suit certain occupiers.”
And Hartnell Taylor Cook director Chris Grazier says: “It looks impressive.” His only warning bell is that buoyant tenant activity could mean requirements go to existing space before the scheme can be delivered.
Location Bank Place, Temple Way
Size Two office buildings totalling 232,000 sq ft plus a retail unit of 1,560 sq ft
Developer The Carlyle Group
Rents Anticipated £28.50 per sq ft
• The Carlyle Group has plans for two office buildings and a newly created public plaza on a prime waterfront location overlooking the floating harbour.
Many city agents believe the developers will hold fire on progressing the scheme until other space lets up – particularly nearby Two Glass Wharf, which will be a litmus test for that area. Views are somewhat mixed, however, about the specific location. Alder King’s
Simon Price and GVA’s David Mace agree it is well located and prominent.
But Hartnell Taylor Cook’s Andrew Batchelor says: “Arguably it is the wrong side of the water for office development. I could see it coming back as a residential or hotel development.”
Location Glassfields, Temple WaySize Circa 350,000 sq ft offices plus hotel
Developer Royal London Asset Management
• Royal London Asset Management has put together proposals for a series of four office buildings and a hotel centred on a new public square, just six minutes’ walk away from Temple Meads station.
Again, the local property world has mixed views. While GVA’s David Mace believes Glassfields – like Bank Place – could appeal to corporate occupiers, Hartnell Taylor Cook’s Chris Grazier says he cannot see it coming forward as a “straightforward commercial office”.
His colleague Andrew Batchelor also feels the scheme will improve its chances if the developers pursue aspirations for a mix of uses.
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