Office developers are targeting the Welsh capital, with applications up by nearly 40%. And take-up in the city has more than doubled over H1
Developers are cashing in on Cardiff offices. Plans submitted for office schemes were up 38% in the year to end of June 2014 as developers lost interest in the sector UK-wide. Applications for offices across the UK dropped by 6% in the same period, according to Estates Gazette Planning Research, as developers looked at other sectors. Total applications closed in on double-digit rises.
The sentiment was echoed at this week’s EG Cardiff reception where local agents were buoyed by take-up that more than doubled in the first half of the year. Figures topped 290,000 sq ft with only Aberdeen and Liverpool showing a greater percentage rise in city centre space taken.
Confidence has been boosted by the BBC’s commitment to Capital Square unlocking 100,000 sq ft of spec development at the Rightacres site leading to expectations that rents will burst through the £22 per sq ft ceiling with new development pushing levels closer to £24 per sq ft.
Nearly a fifth of all applications in Cardiff were for offices, representing three-quarters of all office applications in Wales by sq ft. Overall planning applications jumped by 12% in the city.
Watch a video with the bbc in cardiff at www.estatesgazette.com/videos
nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com
