Birmingham office investment to hit £430m
Property giant Jones Lang LaSalle said that it expects transactional activity in Birmingham's city centre office investment market to total about £430m by the end of 2010. this would represent a 106 per cent rise on 2009’s total of £209m.
Ed Gamble, head of Jones Lang LaSalle’s National Investment team in Birmingham office, said that year’s rise has been driven by “two significant transactions”. These include the £126m sale of One Snowhill to Commerz Real AG which Jones Lang LaSalle completed on behalf of Ballymore in the first quarter, and the £190m portfolio sale of five buildings at Brindley Place in Q3.
Gamble said: “With further investments expected to complete by the end of this year we anticipate total city centre office volumes to be around the £430m mark.
“This year also saw a shift in investor focus, illustrated by Jones Lang LaSalle's acquisition of Bank House on behalf of F&C REIT, with a move away from prime single-let properties to multi-let assets as investors sought to attract more yield.”
“Looking ahead, with the recent improvements in the occupational market and a potential shortage of Grade A space in two to three years time due to lack of ongoing development activity will continue to focus on prime core assets.
"We are seeing investors focus their attention on shorter term leases in the core, where the tenant has limited options to move, or if the tenant does move refurbish the property taking advantage of the lack of Grade A supply.”
