The East Midlands The Commercial Property Market in Leicester
Viewpoint – Alex Reid, Head of Commercial, Mather Jamie space. The office is not dead, but it will be designed very differently and require tailored fit outs to meet the needs of tenants. Offices will no longer be rows of desks that people sit at to carry out tasks that could just as easily be done at home. Instead, offices will be designed to enable people to collaborate, work in teams, be mentored and of course provide all important social interactions.
Alex Reid
The demand for land for commercial development and the number of commercial property transactions taking place in Leicester has led to a highly buoyant market. We interviewed Alex Reid, Head of Commercial at Chartered Surveyors Mather Jamie. The firm, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2021, is based in Loughborough and specialises in strategic land development and commercial property.
“The buzz word in Leicester at the moment is logistics, logistics, logistics – owing to the boom in demand for properties suitable for warehousing and distribution operations. As a County, Leicestershire is perfectly placed with close links to major road and rail networks and East Midlands airport with its growing airfreight operation.
The freeport at East Midlands Airport will also bring further opportunities, jobs and wealth to the region. Already several new distribution hubs have been built and Mather Jamie will soon be marketing a new logistics site to provide approximately 1 million sq.ft of new space adjoining the M1.
The Leicestershire location puts 80% of the country’s population within 4 hours’ drive of the site. This is highly attractive for companies wanting to locate logistics operations for the UK.
There is no doubt that the pandemic caused some challenges, and we’re sensitive to the difficulties that some businesses have faced, but the trend towards online domination of retail started at least 15 years ago and the pandemic has hastened the rate of change. The furlough scheme helped to maintain business confidence and the Government mandate that construction could continue accelerated the transition towards operating from larger centralised industrial warehouse spaces. Looking to the future, land and property owners will have to prepare for a period of change regarding the requirements for commercial office
Tungsten Properties Lets Hinckley Unit to Completely Motoring Group for New HQ
Tungsten Properties has let Unit 14 at Lime Kilns Business Park in Hinckley, Leicestershire to Completely Motoring Group, for its new head office and motorcycle distribution centre.
Lime Kilns, aerial view of the new develop- ment built by Tungsten Properties
Unit 14 totals 37,650 sq ft and is part of a two-unit new development which Tungsten
Properties has built. Hinckley is within a prime logistics location just two miles from junction 1, M69. Being situated on the A5, it provides a strategic link to junction10, M42 (Tamworth) and junction 18, M1 (DIRFT/Crick).
The building is to be comprehensively fitted out and more than 20 new group staff will be employed once government lockdown restrictions have been lifted.
Jenny Clarke, development surveyor, Tungsten Properties said: “As a growing company, it’s great that Completely Motoring has their new space to match their impressive expansion plans. Hinckley continues to be an attractive location to such businesses due to being well-connected to the road network and in a strong employment area. Our second unit, Unit 13, which totals 27,030 sq ft, has seen good interest from other occupiers looking for brand new space.”
The terms of the deal are a 10-year lease at a rent of £6.50 per sq ft. Andrew & Ashwell and M1 Agency acted on behalf of Tungsten Properties.
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The new £100m development at Leicester’s National Space Park will no doubt be designed to cater for a hybrid working model.
Looking to the future, another trend that commercial property owners will have to consider is the provision of adequate power supplies to charge electric vehicles.
Many companies now insist that deliveries are made using only electric vehicles. The tax advantages introduced to meet 2030 environmental targets will mean electric vehicles will be far more prevalent. Therefore, the charging infrastructure will need to be in place. There is already significant pressure on capacity from existing commercial uses so exactly how this requirement will be met will need to be addressed to avoid power supply issues
Looking ahead, the market remains buoyant, and we expect this trend to continue into 2022. The number of companies re-assessing their commercial property needs will keep demand high. As an example, Mather Jamie are currently marketing a property in Leicester which will go to best bid and are currently trying to organise over 70 parties wanting to view! We have also let and sold a number of office properties despite the pandemic including a 20,000sq ft state of the art office on Charnwood Edge Business Park and an 8,000 sq.ft office at Lockington close to the airport. The levels of demand we are seeing particularly for warehouse and industrial space highlights business confidence and limited supply in the county.”
Commitment to Sustainable Development Drives Leasing at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway
22 March 2021: SEGRO is taking sustainability to a new level after securing a major pre-let at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway with a leading online retailer, which will include double-deck parking for 200 electric vans.
The customer has agreed a 15-year lease for a 150,000 sq ft unit on a 21-acre site. The BREEAM ‘Excellent’ (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) building will be used as a distribution hub. The double-level vehicle parking areas will have the ability to provide electrical charging to all 200 van parking spaces on site. Other sustainable features include roof-mounted photovoltaic panels and LED lighting.
SEGRO has been able to provide an accelerated construction programme to enable the customer to expand its operations as quickly as possible. The accelerated programme will enable SEGRO to deliver the space to the customer in just over five months, rather than the nine months a standard build programme would take for a building of this size. Furthermore, the customer will have access to be able to begin its internal fit out after just 14 weeks.
The pre-let illustrates the developer’s ‘Responsible SEGRO’ commitment – a framework launched in February, which is anchored on three priority areas; championing low-carbon growth, investing in local communities and nurturing talent.
Andrew Pilsworth, Managing Director, National Logistics, SEGRO, said: “This pre-let is a brilliant example of how we are supporting our customers’ growth plans and showcases how we are helping them meet their sustainability goals”.
Practical completion of the new unit is anticipated in August 2021 COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MONTHLY 2021
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