Pooks Commercial Property Consultants report 2007 as a busy year for sales and lettings of office space in Shropshire.

The take up of offices on the Shrewsbury Business Park has gathered pace with over 15,000 sq ft being let in the second half of the year alone. Pooks negotiated one of the biggest office deals in Shropshire this year with the sale of Redwood House, 7,000 sq ft of open plan offices, with an asking price of £990,000. The start of 2008 will see the completion of Redstart Construction’s Ptarmigan, Whimbrel and Sanderling buildings. This will provide another 30,000 sq ft in order to meet this renewed demand and at the time of writing almost 75% of this is under offer.

Prime rents currently stand at £13/sq ft, while sale prices are around £140/sq ft. However, with the completion of these new properties, and later in 2008 the completion of Tenzing Property Limited’s Temple Point and Alaska Property Group’s Bering House [sketch], these figures are set to rise.

Another out of town office location that has continued to attract interest is Morris Property’s Longbow Professional Centre at Harlescott. All units have now been sold, reflecting prices from £110/ sq ft and the centre is also fully let (£10/sq ft). A similar development on the same Battlefield Enterprise Park, Charlesworth Court, is now part let and offers a similar high specification at a competitive rent of £10/sq ft per annum.

The demand for small town centre offices has remained steady with Pooks securing lettings at various locations including Claremont Buildings, Claremont House, High St Chambers and the Pride Hill Centre. Rents for these deals have ranged from £8/sq ft up to £11/sq ft.

The Hardwicke Pavilions development at Hadnall, 4 miles north of Shrewsbury, is nearing completion and will provide over 15,000 sq ft of sustainable offices. The eco-offices will include passive ventilation, ground-source heat exchangers and rainwater harvesting as well as other initiatives to promote green working space. One of the pavilions (5,000 sq ft) is already under offer to a national company with more interest expected as the development is due to be completed in January 2008.

In the Telford area typical rents for small offices in the district centres such as Wellington, Oakengates and Madeley have ranged from £7.00 to £10 per sq ft. The landmark Telford Plaza complex and other town centre space achieves £11 - £13/sq ft. However, the main taking point in Telford this year has been the proposed £250m development at Southwater in Telford Town Centre which could include housing, leisure facilities and up to 25,0000 sq ft of new office space.

Ludlow Eco Park, another "environmentally friendly" development, which provides an excellent ‘BREEAM’ rating, has proved a popular location with both investors and owner occupiers. The Business Quarter, which was developed by Shrewsbury-based Sherpa Properties, has seen approximately 23,000 sq ft either sold or under offer at sale prices of around £130/sq ft.

Just South of Ludlow and into Herefordshire, The Leominster Enterprise Park is expanding with nearly 6,000 sq ft either sold or under offer, while another 6,000 sq ft are currently under construction for completion throughout 2008, prices start from £115/sq ft.

For 2008, in both Shropshire and Herefordshire, Pooks expect to see continuing steady demand for freehold offices as local owner occupiers and investors continue to search for investments. The leasing market may be a little stronger as increasingly restrictive lending arrangements for occupiers make renting more cost effective than purchase.

Credit to Alessio Dyfnallt, Surveyor
Pooks
26 Claremont Hill, Shrewsbury, SY1 1RE
01743 276633
Email: ad@pooks.co.uk