New name for Waterside estate after acquisition
ONE of the biggest office schemes in Wales has a new name and a focus on bringing new office space to market after being acquired by American investors in a £86m deal.
Global Mutual acquired the Cardiff Waterside office estate from Aviva earlier this year. And it has now rebranded the Cardiff Bay estate Parmer Cardiff Waterside – which marks the latest addition to its global stable of Parmer Innovation Centre campuses.
Covering 11.88 acres, the scheme comprises seven office buildings, which provide 402,309 sq ft of grade A office space.
Tenants at Parmer Cardiff Waterside include ITV Wales, KPMG, Gambit Corporate Finance and Ofcom.
And it comes as property advisory firm Knight Frank – which, along with Cushman & Wakefield, is a marketing agent for the scheme – has confirmed it is relocating its Cardiff office to the No 3 Assembly Square office at Parmer Cardiff Waterside. The letting leaves just over 10,000 sq ft of space remaining in the building.
The estate also includes two land sites that could be developed to provide 360,000 sq ft of new office space, targeted as bringing new corporate HQ functions to the city.
While there are currently no firm plans, Parmer has an appetite to bring the development forwards, if underpinned by pre-let activity.
Parmer owns five campuses globally with a total of 45 buildings covering 4 million sq ft. And it has more than 450 acres of land for further development at its campuses in Manchester, Northern Carolina, Texas and California.
Parmer’s Ritchie Gardiner, a senior associate with Global Mutual, said of its latest Cardiff asset: “To revitalise the campus, we are undertaking a significant capital investment programme. We have kick-started with a deep clean of the buildings, instantly improving the aesthetic. We will continue this progress by softening the streetscape, modernising the entrances, developing an amenity offer and reorientating the properties to create a sense of place that will encourage ideas, productivity and wellness.
“For the future, we plan to develop out the land, delivering 360,000 sq ft of world-class waterside office space along with additional amenities. We are working alongside our advisors Knight Frank and Cushman & Wakefield to offer a whole range of occupational options from small five-person suites up to standalone corporate HQ buildings.”
He added: “Cardiff has a real culture of collaboration, and we want to act as a linchpin between the business community and decision-makers, all working towards the greater goal of positioning Cardiff on the global arena. Connectivity is of primary importance to achieving this, and the success of the Metro and the M4 relief road are the critical pieces in the jigsaw.”
Leader of Cardiff Council Huw Thomas said: “We are fully aware that it is businesses that create jobs and prosperity. So it is wonderful to see investors like Parmer being attracted to the city, as it faces an amazing new period of growth and where over the next 20 years its population will grow by 70,000, making it the fastestexpanding UK core city.”
Savills has been appointed managing agent of Parmer Cardiff Waterside.
Rupert Ward, director in the property management team at Savill, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed to manage Parmer Cardiff Waterside, which is a key instruction in the region, and look forward to working closely with Global Mutual to enhance the ongoing success of the scheme.”