VIDEO: LaSalle Investment Management says there is value in the regions as it prepares to spend £1bn this year.
The investment manager says it has spent over 85% of its funds in the regional markets.
Of the £450m invested so far this year, all but £60m was outside London including Birmingham’s largest investment deal in quarter one, the £51m purchase of Mitchell’s and Butler HQ on 27 Fleet Street, B1 in an off market deal.
“We are big fans of the regional market,” said Paul Till, LIM’s head of national business space, “Birmingham is a very exciting city, it has a population where 40% are under 25 which is staggering, it has three universities and is the biggest financial centre outside London.”
Birmingham registered a slow start to the year with office take-up down 8% on the previous quarter, according to figures from EGi Offices Research. The average deal almost halved to 3465 sq ft.
But Graham Shone, senior analyst at EGi Research, said the slump was not alarming.
“It’s been a very encouraging quarter especially for office investment, you have to go back to 2008 to see a better quarter one in terms of amount invested and transacted space.
“That Grade A space is getting absorbed and there is a good level of demand out there,” he added.
Click here to download a copy of EGi’s Offices research report on the Birmingham market covering planning, offices, retail and industrial market.
nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com
