Jones Lang LaSalle has topped the South Coast Office Agents League Table, having disposed circa 159,000sq ft of office accommodation on the M27 in the last 12 months. The results were announced in the latest issue of Estates Gazette
The bulk of this space was in two of the largest occupier transactions seen in south Hampshire in the last five years: In Chandlers Ford, Ageas Insurance, has purchased Portswood House (circa 88,000sq ft). This office building is currently undergoing an extensive refurbishment.
To the east, Portsmouth University have purchased the St Andrews Court in central Portsmouth (circa 71,000sq ft), also for their own occupation to 23,000 plus students.
The University of Portsmouth is a leading modern university ranked among the top 400 universities in the world and the top modern university in the United Kingdom in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Office League Table from Q3 2011 to Q3 2012
| Agent | Total space disposed (sq ft) | No. of deals | Total space acquired (sq ft) | No. of deals | |
| 1 | Jones Lang LaSalle |
159,023 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| 2 | Lambert Smith Hampton |
146,661 |
34 |
3,919 |
2 |
| 3 | Hughes Ellard |
92,170 |
25 |
0 |
0 |
| 4 | Nexus Commercial property |
86,026 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
| 5 | Vail Williams |
78,552 |
42 |
17,563 |
1 |
| 6 | BNP Paribas Real Estate |
75,169 |
26 |
0 |
0 |
| 7 | Goadsby |
33,819 |
17 |
5,478 |
1 |
| 8 | GL Hearn |
26,472 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| 9 | Savills |
18,084 |
22 |
0 |
0 |
| 10 | London Clancy |
16,627 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
Source: EGi Research. The table covers Southampton, Eastleigh, Romsey, Portsmouth, Southsea, Waterlooville, Havant, Gosport and Fareham for the period 1 September 2011 to 31 August 2012. Both occupational sales and lettings are included (but not investment sales). Joint agency deals are related to both agents
Jason Webb, Director of National Office Agency at Jones Lang LaSalle in Southampton who acted as sole agent for LaSalle Investment Management on Portswood House, and as sole agent for The Land Registry on St Andrews Court commented: “Whilst we are very pleased to have topped the table, there are also some important lessons for landlords to pick up on from the deals we have agreed: Both of these significant transactions to owner occupiers have been at substantially higher levels than other vacant possession sales that have taken place to investor developers. For example, 1600 Parkway, a 39,000sq ft building on Solent Business Park has recently sold at circa £20 sq ft, which compares poorly with the £70sq ft and £100sq ft which was achieved on Portswood House and St Andrews Court respectively. This is in spite of the fact that all three buildings were of a similar age, and similarly in need of refurbishment. We believe this trend will continue whilst letting prospects for offices remain gloomy in the current economic downturn.”