"The West End development cycle looks ripe to restart in 2005," says Keith Harris, director, West End office agency at Atisreal, "with a groundswell of demand giving developers the confidence they need to start projects that will come onto the market in the next two to three years."
The firm also found that in the city, take-up in Q1 was subdued following last year's Christmas rush, but was still healthy at nearly 1.2 million feet. The forward purchase of 35 Basinghall St. by Standard Chartered Bank, totaling 227,000 sf, was one of the highlights of the quarter. This period also saw activity in the legal sector, with acquisitions from Ince & Co, Addleshaw Goddard and Dechert, and the emergence of a number of active requirements active from several other US law firms. The report adds that, "in the Docklands, conscious that rents are set to improve, tenants are making decisions quickly, with previously difficult-to-let cheaper space being snapped up."
Predictions in the market of rental growth in Central London over the next few years have fuelled competition for investments with short income streams providing active management opportunities. "With limited supply of suitable stock, and weight of money from across all sectors, demand is intense, particularly for buildings able to benefit from the strong levels of rental growth anticipated over the next two to five years," concludes Charlie Butters, director of West End investments.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.