Willis Group makes a move on Jewellery Quarter
Chord Developments has secured the biggest office letting in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter this year. Global insurance brokerage Willis Group has taken 10,000 sq ft on the ground floor as part of a ten-year lease.
The agreement also includes 12 car parking spaces at Chord Developments’ 40 St Paul’s Square. The company will move from 30 St Paul’s Square.
Will Monaghan, lease manager at Willis, said: “Willis has been established in the Jewellery Quarter for many years and we were keen to remain here. 40 St Paul’s Place fitted the bill as it is a landmark building in a convenient location and it offered the space we needed on one floor plate.”
The letting to Willis is Chord’s second following the launch of the commercial space in May this year – construction and fit-out business ISG took 3,314 sq ft last month. The development, part of the mixed-use St Paul’s Place scheme, comprises 25,400 sq ft of office space and 148 apartments.
Savills and GBR Phoenix Beard are joint letting agents on the Jewellery Quarter scheme. BNP Paribas Real acted for Willis.
Nick Williams, head of office agency at Savills, said: “Chord has scored two significant lettings in a matter of months. It’s a ringing endorsement of the product and the location. 40 St Paul’s Place offers a city centre-type specification, in a landmark building, but at two-thirds the rental costs of similar new Grade A stock.”
