A street in Glasgow, traditionally known for its role in the city’s financial services sector, has experienced a surge in major office deals.
Recent analysis reveals that new leases by three high-profile companies have led Bothwell Street to capture a record 30% share of the take-up in Glasgow’s core office market during the first quarter of the year.
Accountancy giant PwC, tax and audit specialist RSM, and Scotch whisky distiller Edrington committed to nearly 40,000 square feet of space between them over the quarter. It means 140,000 sq ft of office space has been taken up in the street in the last 12 months, according to CoStar Group, the property research analyst.
The city centre received a further boost last week when JPMorgan Chase officially opened a huge new base on nearby Argyle Street in the heart of the city’s International Financial Services district, underlining its long-term commitment to Glasgow.
The New York banking giant, which has maintained a presence in Glasgow for 25 years, announced its intention to expand its workforce beyond the 2,600 employees already stationed at its new building.
CoStar noted that the three major deals it highlighted in the first quarter came amid well-documented concern over the condition of major parts of Glasgow city centre, including nearby Sauchiehall Street which has struggled from structural change in the retail sector and challenges arising from the pandemic.
Grant Lonsdale, senior director of market analytics at CoStar, said PwC’s letting of 26,000 sq ft at the Aurora building “satisfied a long-running requirement”, noting that the financial services giant had previously been linked with Virgin Money’s sub-leased space at 177 Bothwell Street. The PwC deal came after Cubo, the flexible office firm, and News UK took a combined 30,000 sq ft at the end of last year.
RSM and Edrington both leased around 7,000 sq ft at Lucent in the first quarter, Mr Lonsdale said, with the deals coming a few months after law firm Pinsent Masons had pre-leased nearly one-third of the 96,000 sq ft building, which is being redeveloped by Orion Capital Managers.
Office availability on Bothwell Street is now “firmly on a downward path”, he added, highlighting the “continuing leasing success at Aurora and Lucent and the timing of a likely refurbishment of 141 Bothwell Street”. The 175,000 sq ft building was developed in 2006 was recently vacated by JPMorgan Chase, with Pinsent Masons and PwC due to exit soon.
Mr Lonsdale said: “HFD’s 177 Bothwell Street, which completed in 2022, can be credited with putting the street back on the map. Its best-in-class specification and sustainability credentials helped it land major lettings to Virgin Money, Transport Scotland and BNP Paribas, amongst others, before its £200 million-plus sale to Spain’s Pontegadea [in April 2022].
“CEG’s Onyx, a refurbishment of the former Eagle building at 215 Bothwell Street, has also helped to reinvigorate demand.”