Building Briefs - May 4th

Artisan Real Estate Investors scoops top Scottish property award

Artisan Real Estate Investors’ has been recognised by winning of one of this year’s most high profile industry awards.

Artisan was awarded Property Company of the Year winners at the prestigious 2018 Scottish Property Awards, announced last night.

The award reflects Artisan’s stellar investment-based success across Scotland over the last 12 months. This includes continued progress at New Waverley, its flagship Edinburgh city-centre development, as well as taking on major regeneration projects in Glasgow such as the Custom House on the Clyde Waterfront and the Cotton House in the Merchant City.

Artisan was also nominated at the awards for the Deal of the Year category, which recognised the landmark property deal agreed in July 2017 to bring 2,900 HMRC jobs right to the heart of Edinburgh, with the lease of New Waverley’s 190,000 sq. ft. new office building to the Government Property Agency (GPA) – described at the time as the city’s largest office leasing deal for more than 20 years.

Artisan brings together more than 30 years of experience in some of the UK’s most innovative and exciting Grade A office, retail, industrial, leisure and residential developments. In that time, the international investment partnership has established an impressive development track record in sensitive city centre development, especially in complex mixed use sites.

Artisan’s pipeline of current development projects comprises 1.5 million square feet with a gross development value of almost £400 million. During the last three years in particular, a significant chunk of that business has been activated in Scotland, as well as across the rest of the UK.

Ryden publishes its latest Scottish Property Review

Ryden has issued its 82nd Scottish Property Review, providing a detailed analysis of how office, industrial, retail and investment property has fared over the past six months in Scotland.

The latest figures show take-up of office space in Glasgow is above the long term average. Government bodies taking space at Atlantic Quay and Atlantic Square dominate but the private sector has also contributed. This burst of letting activity has substantially reduced the availability of large scale options.

In Edinburgh, office take-up has dropped by 17% compared to the same period last year, with only three deals over 10,000 sq ft concluding in the past six months, reflecting the constrained supply of Grade A space. Active pre-letting is however eroding the remaining speculative developments.

Demand for industrial units remains robust in central Scotland underpinned by strong rental growth and diminishing availability. It is particularly strong below 10,000 sq ft while the market for larger units remains active but unpredictable. Average annual take-up figures in Greater Glasgow suggest only 2.4 years of remaining supply, much of that in less attractive premises.