Connells secures new city centre offices

National estate agency Connells has signed a 10-year lease for a ground floor retail suite at Lombard House on Great Charles Street, Birmingham.

The lease will see Connells, a part of the Connells Group and with 171 branches, the third largest estate agency network in the UK, relocate its Birmingham office to Lombard House from its previous location in Digbeth. 

Lombard House, which is owned by Aviva Investors, offers a combination of office and retail space and fronts Great Charles Street, one of the busiest commuter routes in and out of the city centre. Parking is available via a secured car park at the rear of the building, opening onto Lionel Street.

Karen Trace, Branch Partner, Connells, said: “Lombard House provides us with a perfect synergy with the Connells brand, with an outstanding frontage onto one of the busiest arterial routes in Birmingham. Accessibility to both the local and national transport networks was obviously a big selling-point for us and the location of this retail unit on Great Charles Street provides us with a perfect position in terms of both profile and footfall.

“We have a number of other nearby offices in locations including Kings Heath, Great Barr and West Bromwich, and our relocation to Lombard House means that our central Birmingham office truly is at the heart of the city.”

Adam Hyman, Asset Manager at Aviva Investors commented: “Great Charles Street continues to offer businesses an attractive location so we are delighted that it has attracted Connells and that we have been able to work with them to provide a retail suite that meets their customer facing needs whilst also offering a lease that works within their business requirements.”

George Jennings, Associate, GVA, said: “The suites available on Great Charles Street are unique, as their location at the edge of the city’s business district allows occupiers such as Connells to benefit from a city centre address at extremely competitive rates.

“For a high-profile, customer-facing tenant such as Connells, Lombard House offers highly visible ground floor retail in one of Birmingham’s business locations.”

Offering a combination of office and retail space, Lombard House is just a short walk from Birmingham Snow Hill station, providing connections to both the rail and tram networks.  Parking is available via a secured car park at the rear of the building, opening onto Lionel Street.

Great Charles Street offers a choice of high quality refurbished office suites on flexible lease terms from 500 sq ft (46 sq m) to 20,000 sq ft (1,858 sq m) across five individual office buildings: Civic House, 154, Charles House, Lombard House and Galbraith House.