27,000 sq ft of owner occupier deals boost Edgbaston office market take up

Philippa Pickavance Real Estate is pleased to report the sale of a further building on the Calthorpe Estate for a client, part of the Remax Group.

1a &1b Greenfield Crescent, a building of just under 10,000 sq ft, has been sold to BMG Research, which is moving from Birmingham Science Park Aston where it was one of the longest standing tenants.

This sale, coupled with the further recent sale of Remax’s 17,308 sq ft No.24A and The Mews Calthorpe Road buildings by joint agent GBR Phoenix Beard, brings the recent disposals to 26,392 sq ft. A smaller 2,960 sq ft building was also sold to Nexus Foster Care in 2014.

Philippa Pickavance, who agreed the BMG sale, said: “BMG wanted to own their own building and had looked at a few options in Edgbaston before settling on 1a/1b. As a self contained building, but also as part of the Quadrant Court scheme with good parking, it gave them the space they wanted and the ability to fit out to meet their own needs.”

Dawn Hands, Managing Director of BMG Research, said: “ We were delighted to find this building for sale in the heart of the commercial core of Edgbaston. The acquisition of our new headquarters is an important milestone for our company, as we have long aspired to invest in our own premises, integrating state of the art technologies to improve the efficiency and quality of our work.

David Dunger at Green & Co represented BMG.

Greenfield Crescent is now at the centre of the emerging Calthorpe Estate ‘village’ concept.

Philip King of Philip King & Co,  which manages the asset on behalf of the investors, said: “We have always had confidence in Edgbaston as a location and these deals justifies this confidence.”

47-48 and 49 Calthorpe Rd are now the only buildings available for sale in the portfolio at 7,755 sq ft and 19,881sq ft respectively, but as they adjoin they could be acquired together to give space of 27,636 sq ft. The larger building includes secure basement parking.