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| 01.07.07 HARROGATE AND YORK TOWN FOCUS OUT OF HISTORY Yorkshire Business InsiderThey may both have historic centres that can be a barrier to new development but Antony Adshead says the office market in both Harrogate and York is shaping up nicely. Like many other Yorkshire centres, Harrogate and York lack opportunities for large scale office development in their urban core. Where, for many town centres, development is restricted by a surfeit of small floorplate, post-war buildings, in Harrogate and York it is their historic nature which makes office development so tricky. But these places are not museums. There is substantial office development taking place in both places, in the centre, at the edges of the core and out of town. Both towns have key business sectors which are the mainstay of their city/town centre office requirements - in York it is railway-related businesses and professional and financial services, while in Harrogate there is a healthy demand from local and start-up businesses. And, where city and town centre cannot satisfy demand, more expansive developments are attracting new types of occupiers out of town. In the case of York the space vacated by a departed railway industry also offers the medium to long-term possibility of creating a a well spoken workforce that is not as expensive as it is in Leeds." Nevertheless, he does bemoan the council's apparent unwillingness to allow more commercial development into the town centre. As a historic spa Harrogate has many listed buildings, so new town centre office developments have been few and far between. When sites come forward they are like gold dust and residential development is the usual route taken. Jonathan Gale, head of office agency with GVA Grimley in Leeds, says: "In Harrogate there is a shortage of available grade A stock and limited development opportunities. But where there are opportunities to develop sites then quality occupiers can do well." In town there are a number of notable office refurbishments taking place and while not in the same league as Leeds, there is a healthy turnover of occupiers. Top rent for the town is around £15. Gareth Wilkinson, commercial surveyor at Carter Jonas, says: "Harrogate's not like Leeds, which has which has suites of between 1,785 and 13,000 sq ft available. Elsewhere, on Windsor Road, is 78,000 sq ft Windsor House, a grand former hotel building on Cornwall that contains office suites ranging 99 sq ft to 4,000 sq ft, with occupiers including local government, professional services, local businesses and start- Adam Baxter, associate director CBRE, says: "Windsor House is a wonderful building in enviable surroundings overlooking Valley Gardens in central Harrogate. It high-quality office suites on seven and has proved to be a very successful refurbishment for the owners, St Martins Property Investments." Next to it on Clarence Drive is 35,000 sq ft Windsor Court. Rents Windsor House are £14.50 per sq Windsor Court fetching £14.75 per With a restricted centre, much around Harrogate is taking place out of town. Chris Fordy, partner with Strutt Parker's Harrogate office, says: "Harrogate has a restricted town centre in that it is attractive and historic and the council rightly wants to keep it that way. For that reason a lot of recent developmrnt has taken place out of town at business parks which are popular with occupiers who like to be near Harrogate and to the good transport links of the A1(M)." long-term possibility of creating a central business district anew and an office centre to rival Leeds. Harrogate Harrogate solicitor Peter McCormick, who relocated back to Harrogate when he sold off the Leeds branch of his eponymous practice at the start of 2007, waxes lyrical about the benefits of his home town. He says he has noticed a steady stream of Leeds businesses relocating to the town, and, particularly for well-known and established businesses in occupation. What you do get here is a good churn of occupier. It's mainly smaller, local businesses based in Harrogate and there are lots of starter businesses." Key schemes in the town include The Exchange, a 10-storey block which is near the railway station which was refurbished in 2005 and has suites of between 1,750 and 2,028 sq ft available; Clarendon House in Victoria Avenue, "Harrogate has a restricted town in that it is attractive and historic the council rightly wants to keep way. For that reason a lot of recent development has taken place out town at business parks which are popular with occupiers who like near to Harrogate and to the good transport links of the A1(M)." Hornbeam Park is 1km south town centre, next to the Yorkshire Showground. The scheme has units ranging from 1,500 sq ft to 24,000Friendly Society, Hein Gericke, Rural Insurance, Exponent, Peopleco, accountancy firm WBS and Leeds Metropolitan University. Hornbeam Park has its own railway station, a Cannons leisure centre, a Whitbread Travel Inn hotel and Brewers Fayre restaurant and Kindercare day nursery. Its most striking recent addition is the 40m-high stainless steel and glass pyramid - the Inspire - which has 17,000 sq ft of office accommodation on four floors. Chris Robbins of Robbins Associates, letting agents for Hornbeam Park, says: "The Inspire is the last available building on Hornbeam Park. The fit-out will be completed during August 2007 and the property will be marketed ideally for a single tenant in September 2007 when fully complete." Elsewhere, the ten-acre Knaresborough Technology Park offers flexible accommodation on Manse Lane, Knaresborough, 3km from the A1(M). Businesses there are focused towards manufacturing, electronics, digital technology, the Harrogate Advertiser's publisher, is being refurbished and will be ready in August 2007 and offers suites of between 1,500 sq ft and 8,000 sq ft. DTZ recently let 9,268 sq ft over two floors on the park at Cardale House to Link Interchange Network Limited. There is 4,894 sq ft still available in the building. York York's is well known as a historic city and was, until recently, a centre for the railways and chocolate manufacturing. But it is the changing fortunes of these industries that are shaping the city's commercial property market. Its traditional office core is constrained by small footplates, conservation regulations and access restrictions, so in the absence of largescale new development in the centre, modern business parks have arisen at the edge of the city to meet demand. Alex Munro, partner with Knight Frank, says: "It's a very tight city and is challenging if you need a big office and a recognition that it provides a quality of life. Demand comes from clearly identifiable sectors - professional and financial services make up a good portion of this, but the city also has unique clusters of rail-related and scientific occupier demand. Eamon Fox, senior surveyor with DTZ says: "Demand has been sustained by the relocation to the city and expansion within of a variety of employers, notably within the rail industry and growth of the activities of the Aviva Group following the Norwich Union/CGU merger." The Helmsley Group is due to start the comprehensive refurbishment of Prudential House on Blossom Street the city centre. Work is due to commence in early 2008 and will involve adding an extra floor to provide approximately 39,000 sq ft in total. building will be ready early 2009. Elsewhere on the eastern edges of city centre is the ten-acre Hungate. a £150m, mixed-use scheme on a tenacre brownfield site that is expectedmanufacturing, electronics, digital technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology. Newly developed accommodation provides flexible business space over two floors ranging from 120 sq ft to 5,500 sq ft, with the option of larger-sized accommodation if needed. Also on the outskirts of Knaresborough, Business Homes has started work on a second phase of development at St James Business Park, which is on the A59 within 5km of the A1(M). Four of the ten two-storey, self-contained buildings in the latest phase have now sold and another is under offer. Five properties remain, ranging in size from 3,057 sq ft to 6,168 sq ft, priced at £199 per sq ft freehold and £16 per sq ft to lease. Cardale Park is a well-established, purpose-built office park about 3km west of Harrogate town centre. is challenging if you need a big office block. The root of the problem is that rents have not moved up sufficiently to make it attractive for developers to commit. Because of the tight, historic nature of the city centre, construction and material costs are expensive, so any new build will need to get more than the existing headline rent." There's no shortage of demand for space in York, with take up in 2006 reaching approximately 250,000 sq ft, according to figures from King Sturge. Rents in the city centre and out of town are in the range of £14 to £16 per sq ft. Alastair Gill, senior associate with King Sturge, says: "Take up in 2007 will be down, but principally as a result of limited new stock coming to the market. There are a number of schemes which are on site or about to start on site which will be ready in 2008." brownfield site that is expected accommodate 120,000 sq ft of office space, 720 residential units, 70,000 of retail and leisure units, a new over the River Foss and city's largest public square. Despite such activity, availability those looking for 20,000 sq ft and is poor and many office occupiers look outside the city centre. Just outside the city centre to north east is the 60,000 sq ft £12m development by Helmsley at Heworth Green. This is due for completion 2007, but has already achieved pre- Hunters Property Group and Holiday Break. Further out of town, at Heslington, the last 10,000 sq ft the 40-acre York Science Park was purchased by the University of York 2006. Other planned out-of-town developmentof development providing a total of 39,000 sq ft in six buildings. Completion is expected in summer 2008. At Vangarde, Monks Cross South, Oakgate hopes to start on site with the first phase of this 26-acre, 500,000 sq ft business park development. The first phase will consist of two buildings of 11,500 and 12,000, with a further terraced building providing four selfcontained units of around 4,000 sq ft. At the 80-acre York Business Park, near Poppleton, Evans of Leeds' new Business Living concept is starting on site in July 2007, with the first phase of a development of self-contained office buildings ranging in size from 2,500 to 6,000 sq ft. The first phase of 21,000 sq ft will be ready for occupation in 2008. At the former Terry's chocolate factory to the south of the city, near the racecourse, developer Grantside has submitted plans for 296,000 sq ft of offices, a luxury hotel, a 96-bedroom business hotel and 389 residential units and live-work units - set in 27 acres of green space and with five Grade IIlisted buildings at its heart. Peter Callaghan, development director with Grantside, says: "The high standard of development is predicted to have an extremely positive impact on the City of York, its people and the city's future. With a mix of commercial, residential and community leisure space, it's a great opportunity to attract new businesses into the area, as well as expansion space for existing employers." Phil Dawson, associate with Donaldsons in Leeds, says: "Grantside's redevelopment of the former Terry's site will provide one of the most significant commercial developments in York's recent history. It's location on the southern edge of the city will provide the closest road links to Leeds." Perhaps providing a glimpse of the city's future as an office location is York Central. Next to the city's main railway station, it is one of the largest areas to be brought forward for development in the country. It comprises 85 acres in teardrop-shaped area to the west of the railway station and offers the chance to create a whole new city quarter. The council's vision is to create a sustainable, mixed-use development and a modern central business district next to the city centre that will be home to high-specification office accommodation, which the city currently struggles to provide. Jonathan Gale, head of office agency with GVA Grimley in Leeds, says: "York Central provides the possibility to create a second city centre in York. It has great connectivity to London and should be an attractive prospect. It will be interesting to see how York shapes up and whether it can begin to compete with Leeds." | |