January 8 2019

A new survey of Glasgow’s office market has charted record levels of occupier demand through 2018 with over 1.4m sq/ft of space being taken up – one of the highest levels recorded since property consultancy JLL began recording transactions.

The full year total of 1,425,419sq/ft of space represents a 127% increase on comparable figures for 2017, when just 627,313sq/ft of space exchanged hands – as well as being more than double the city’s five and ten year averages.

JLL director Alistair Reid commented: “Last year’s success will be difficult to replicate over the next 12 months given the unique circumstances which led to this record breaking year. Most of the year’s largest deals were pre-lets and the Barclays transaction of nearly half a million sq. ft made such a significant impact on the take-up figures. 2018 was a stellar year for the city and even if the major pre-let deals such as Barclays and HMRC are removed from the figures, 2018’s year-end total is still ahead of the five year average. 

“Clearly there are concerns within the market over the uncertain economic environment in 2019 and how this could impact upon occupier’s decisions. However, the continued limited speculative development and overall supply should reward those developers and landlords who are brave enough to press on with their projects.”

Significant new schemes proposed for the city include a 283,000sq/ft development on Argyle Street, a 187,000sq/ft HMRC campus at Atlantic Square and a huge Barclays campus in Tradeston.

 

Post your comments