Global real estate specialists Avison Young marked the start of 2020 in Scotland with a trio of deals in Glasgow including securing two acquisitions and an office expansion in the city.
Avison Young, which provides services for the full lifecycle of real estate developments, carried out an extensive search of the city centre office market to help expanding renewable energy recruitment consultancy, Taylor Hopkinson Ltd, secure new office premises. As a result, Taylor Hopkinson has taken the entire second floor office suite within 58 Waterloo Street extending to 3,832 sq ft.
The second acquisition saw a leading global insurance company acquire the fully-refurbished second floor office suite spanning 4,788 sq ft in Sutherland House, 149 St. Vincent Street – the floor directly above Avison Young’s Glasgow office.
In the third transaction, the team – on behalf of LGIM Real Assets – let 2,122 sq ft of fully refurbished office space on the ground floor at Kintyre House, 205/209 West George Street to major UK private equity player, and existing tenant, Maven Capital Partners UK LLP. This letting takes Maven’s total occupation in the building to just over 7,400 sq ft where it already occupies 5,285 sq ft on the first floor.
As well as taking on the additional space, Maven has re-geared its first floor lease – reaffirming its long-term commitment to the building and to Glasgow. The ground floor (front) suite is the last remaining available space in the building and provides 2,800 sq ft of high quality refurbished space fronting onto West George Street.
Michael Facenna, Associate in the Business Space team at Avison Young in Glasgow, said: “Our latest deals reinforce Glasgow’s increasing popularity as a place to do business. The strong demand for quality office space is also reflected in Avison Young’s recent Big Nine report which showed that Glasgow boasted the highest levels of city centre uptake.
“Take-up in Glasgow city centre in 2019 totalled 844,866 sq ft reflecting another strong year for the city. With the General Election now out of the way, we expect these strong levels of demand to continue throughout 2020 with the healthy appetite for occupational space in Glasgow being supported by both large public and private sector requirements and the growth of the tech, health and quantum sectors.”
Suzanne Lupton, Director of Co-Investment, at Maven Capital Partners UK LLP, said: “Glasgow has always been an important location for Maven Capital Partners and as we enter our 11th year as an independent business, it is exciting to be expanding our presence and teams in the city centre. The location and quality of space at Kintyre House is ideal for both staff and visiting clients, and this additional space will support our on-going growth plans across our regional offices in 2020 and beyond.”
Taylor Hopkinson’s acquisition involves the company committing to a 10-year lease at Waterloo Street where the landlord, Castleforge Partners, has provided a bespoke fit-out of the second floor for the company.
Fiona McRae, Operations Director at Taylor Hopkinson, said: “This exciting move offers a much larger custom-designed office space that fits with our ambitious growth plans. Our teams are expanding to support a thriving renewable energy industry. This bespoke space further reinforces our carbon reduction commitment, with dedicated meeting rooms and state-of-the-art video conference facilities.”