The office market in – so what is left and
The capital is going to need a wave of new property schemes to satisfy growing demand over the next few years, writes Business Editor Sion Barry
Cardiff’s office market had a storming 2016. And this was particularly true for best-quality Grade A office space – either newly built office accommodation or that which has undergone major refurbishment.
According to property advisory firm Cashman & Wakefield, there was a record 519,000sq ft of city centre office lettings in 2016.
The take-up figure was driven by significant pre-lets, including law firm Hugh James, which has signed up to 100,000 sq ft at the under-construction 2 Central Square office development at the Central Square regeneration scheme in the centre of Cardiff.
Growing cities like Cardiff need a constant flow of new or refurbished office space to satisfy not only demand from expanding indigenous businesses, but also to attract inward investment projects, particularly in financial and professional services.
And there are a number of live inward investment inquiries considering Cardiff, including a financial services company looking for around 30,000sq ft of Grade A office space.
So here’s a guide to what space is available and what could be developed over the next few years in the centre of Cardiff. Capital Quarter Capital Quarter is being driven by family-run property development firm JR Smart.
It is site-building the latest phases of Capital Quarter with speculative Grade A office schemes 3 Capital Quarter, at nearly 80,000sq ft, and 4 Capital Quarter, which will extend to around 90,000sq ft.
3 Capital Quarter is being marketed at £22.95p a sq ft per annum.
Work on 3 Capital Quarter is scheduled for completion in December, with 4 Capital Quarter in September 2018. And JR Smart is now considering options for a 5 Capital Quarter scheme, which could be office or residential.
The 1 Capital Quarter building, whose tenants includes Finance Wales, is fully let.
The 76,000sq ft office scheme, which was acquired by the Welsh Government in 2014, was recently sold in a £20m (net) deal to Global Gate Capital. The deal generated a profit for the Welsh Government of around £6m.
The 83,000sq ft 2 Capital Quarter building, which is owned by JR Smart, is close to being fully let. Only one floor – at just over 13,000sq ft – is available for let.
The first phase of Capital Quarter saw construction of Driscoll Buildings, which extends to 40,000sq ft. It is now fully let, with occupiers Brookfield Capital and Equiniti.
Capital Quarter is now home to 1,000 employees. 1 Central Square There is only 4,000sq ft – and a deal is close on letting that – available in the 135,000sq ft 1 Central Square building, where tenants include law firm Blake Morgan, Hodge Group and MotoNovo Finance.
The building is being developed by Cardiff-based property development firm Rightacres Property, which is behind the wider Central Square scheme. 2 Central Square Work is now under way on the 135,000sq ft 2 Central Square office scheme, but is already fully pre-let to law firm Hugh James and the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.
The building is due for completion in August 2018. 2 Callaghan Square Some 20,000sq ft of space is on the market at 2 Callaghan Square, after Barclays vacated the space. And the bank will release a further 20,000sq ft of the building over the next two years when it fully vacates.
There is understood to be strong interest on the currently available 20,000sq ft, with a confirmation of a