LOMA Q1 2017: The West End grabbed nearly a third of London’s office market’s take-up in the first quarter of 2017, to become the biggest submarket by disposals. With more than 850,000 sq ft of space disposed of, the West End was up on both last quarter and Q1 2016, according to EG’s London Offices Research.
CBRE edged out Cushman & Wakefield to secure top spot in the West End league table with a market share of 28%, writes EG’s Hugh Carson. The US giant disposed of almost 240,000 sq ft in 22 deals, the largest of which being Arup Group’s 133,600 sq ft acquisition at 80 Charlotte Street, W1. Pilcher Hershman gatecrashed the top five thanks to its involvement in the same deal.
WEST END
Market total
851,594 sq ft
| Agency | Disposed (sq ft) | No of deals | % share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CBRE | 239,474.4 | 22 | 28% |
| 2 | Cushman & Wakefield | 204,318 | 19 | 24% |
| 3 | JLL | 148,799 | 4 | 17% |
| 4 | Knight Frank | 140,976 | 14 | 17% |
| 5 | Pilcher Hershman | 133,600 | 1 | 16% |
| 6 | Colliers International | 81,025 | 17 | 10% |
| 7 | Tuckerman | 74,908 | 11 | 9% |
| 8 | Gerald Eve | 63,559 | 3 | 7% |
| 9 | Strutt & Parker | 63,269.4 | 11 | 7% |
| 10 | Edward Charles & Partners | 57,337 | 13 | 7% |
| 11 | Monmouth Dean | 31,183 | 12 | 4% |
| 12 | Savills | 27,558 | 6 | 3% |
| 13 | GVA | 22,794.4 | 3 | 3% |
| 14 | GM Real Estate | 22,557 | 3 | 3% |
| 15 | Levy | 18,950 | 4 | 2% |
| 16 | Hanover Green | 18,551.1 | 6 | 2% |
| 17 | Square Foot Consulting | 12,909 | 1 | 2% |
| 18 | BNP Paribas Real Estate | 9,212 | 3 | 1% |
| 19 | BDG Sparkes Porter | 8,882 | 4 | 1% |
| 20 | GN2 | 6,670 | 1 | 1% |
In stark contrast was the activity – or rather lack of – in both the Docklands and Southern Fringe markets. In the notoriously volatile E14 market just 39,000 sq ft was a massive drop-off from the preceding quarter when more than 620,000 sq ft was taken.
Table-toppers, CBRE, featured in the stand-out Docklands deal of the quarter, Deliveroo’s 15,000 q ft acquisition at Capstan House, Clove Crescent, E14.
In the Southern Fringe, the total take-up was a slightly healthier 127,000 sq ft and saw Union Street Partners secure top spot with a 41% market share, by disposing of 52,000 sq ft over nine deals – three times as many completed deals as any other agent in this particular sub-market.
The 21,936 sq ft acquired by Net.Works at ASRA House, 1 Long Lane, SE1 – a freehold, owner occupier sale which Union Street Partners were not involved in – was the biggest Southern Fringe deal of the quarter, and was marketed by JLL.
DOCKLANDS
Market total
38,946 sq ft
| Agency | Disposed (sq ft) | No of deals | % share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CBRE | 27,446 | 3 | 70% |
| 2 | Allsop | 15,000 | 1 | 39% |
| 3 | Ingleby Trice | 11,500 | 1 | 30% |
| 4 | Cherryman | 11,500 | 1 | 30% |
| 5 | JLL | 5,086 | 1 | 13% |
| 6 | GM Real Estate | 5,086 | 1 | 13% |
SOUTHERN FRINGE
Market total
126,668 sq ft
| Agency | Disposed (sq ft) | No of deals | % share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Union Street Partners | 51,935 | 9 | 41% |
| 2 | JLL | 40,049 | 3 | 32% |
| 3 | Knight Frank | 23,922 | 3 | 19% |
| 4 | DeVono Cresa | 14,785 | 1 | 12% |
| 5 | Cushman & Wakefield | 9,000 | 1 | 7% |
| 6 | CBRE | 8,887 | 2 | 7% |
| 7 | Allsop | 4,756 | 2 | 4% |
| 8 | Montagu Evans | 4,500 | 1 | 4% |
| 9 | Simon Korn Commercial Property Agents | 2,620 | 1 | 2% |
| 10 | Lambert Smith Hampton | 2,160 | 1 | 2% |
| 11 | GVA | 1,185 | 1 | 1% |
Elsewhere, the City Core saw total take-up drop by nearly 40% to 769,500 sq ft. Knight Frank was the top agent, securing a 52% market share, with 14 deals completed and 404,000 sq ft disposed, over half of which came about thanks to its involvement in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s 13 floor, 256,500 sq ft prelet deal at 100 Bishopsgate, EC3.
GM Real Estates’ involvement in the same deal saw it take second spot, while the industrious Newton Perkins earned its place in the top five (fourth) having acted on a number of smaller deals over the quarter.
CITY CORE
Market total
769,544 sq ft
| Agency | Disposed (sq ft) | No of deals | % share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knight Frank | 403,978 | 14 | 52% |
| 2 | GM Real Estate | 315,807 | 3 | 41% |
| 3 | JLL | 123,706 | 13 | 16% |
| 4 | Newton Perkins | 89,872 | 9 | 12% |
| 5 | Cushman & Wakefield | 88,228 | 8 | 11% |
| 6 | CBRE | 87,777 | 6 | 11% |
| 7 | Savills | 68,316 | 11 | 9% |
| 8 | Ingleby Trice | 24,133 | 6 | 3% |
| 9 | Strutt & Parker | 18,438 | 4 | 2% |
| 10 | Gryphon Property Partners | 15,616 | 2 | 2% |
| 11 | Kinney Green | 13,970 | 2 | 2% |
| 12 | DeVono Cresa | 12,969 | 1 | 2% |
| 13 | Colliers International | 12,320 | 2 | 2% |
| 14 | Farebrother | 11,941 | 2 | 2% |
| 15 | Hall Kemp | 9,455 | 3 | 1% |
| 16 | Gerald Eve | 8,346 | 1 | 1% |
| 17 | BNP Paribas Real Estate | 7,290 | 2 | 1% |
| 18 | Allsop | 5,448 | 2 | 1% |
| 19 | GVA | 4,810 | 1 | 1% |
| 20 | Crossland Otter Hunt | 2,508 | 1 | 0% |
Serial City Fringe table-toppers, Colliers International, had to settle for second place this quarter. Despite once again being the submarket’s most prolific agent – completing 21 deals – Cushman & Wakefield pushed it off the top spot with its involvement in the 89,343 sq ft Amazon.co.uk deal at Principal Place, EC2. This was just one of four deals completed by Cushmans, resulting in a 21% market share.
Special mention should be made for Anton Page, whose impressive completion of 20 deals – all of which were sub-5,000 sq ft – saw it clinch third place. Take-up activity in the City Fringe was at its highest point over the last four quarters, and up slightly on the corresponding, pre-Brexit vote quarter of Q1 2016.
CITY FRINGE
Market total
524,771 sq ft
| Agency | Disposed (sq ft) | No of deals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cushman & Wakefield | 109,213 | 4 |
| 2 | Colliers International | 106,508 | 21 |
| 3 | Anton Page | 48,012 | 20 |
| 4 | Allsop | 38,118 | 4 |
| 5 | JLL | 24,533 | 4 |
| 6 | CBRE | 23,556 | 4 |
| 7 | Stirling Ackroyd | 23,438 | 11 |
| 8 | GVA | 22,055 | 3 |
| 9 | Richard Susskind & Co | 16,665 | 7 |
| 10 | Pilcher Hershman | 14,940 | 1 |
| 11 | Ingleby Trice | 12,195 | 1 |
| 12 | Knight Frank | 12,195 | 1 |
| 13 | Hall Kemp | 7,163 | 4 |
| 14 | Search Office Space | 6,060 | 2 |
| 15 | Strettons Limited | 4,972 | 3 |
| 16 | James Andrew International | 4,930 | 2 |
| 17 | Savills | 3,263 | 1 |
| 18 | Workplace Company (The) | 3,100 | 1 |
| 19 | Strutt & Parker | 2,363 | 1 |
Midtown saw the highest take-up since Q4 2015, filling 539,000 sq ft of offices in Q1. It was a submarket dominated by big-hitters with Cushman & Wakefield, Knight Frank and JLL taking positions two to four respectively.
But it was CBRE that was the outright winner, thanks to its part in disposing a total of 222,000 sq ft, spread over 14 deals, and resulting in a 41% market share.
Not for the first time this quarter, Pilcher Hershman shook up the top positions, securing fifth place in the Midtown league table, primarily owing to its part in the 97,000 sq ft prelet to McKinsey & Company at the Post Building, 21-31 New Oxford Street, WC1 – a deal in which CBRE and JLL were joint agents.
MIDTOWN
Market share
538,704 sq ft
| Agency | Disposed (sq ft) | No of deals | % share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CBRE | 222,341 | 14 | 41% |
| 2 | Cushman & Wakefield | 181,868 | 6 | 34% |
| 3 | Knight Frank | 134,222 | 5 | 25% |
| 4 | JLL | 118,025 | 5 | 22% |
| 5 | Pilcher Hershman | 99,088 | 2 | 18% |
| 6 | Bluebook | 75,889 | 3 | 14% |
| 7 | Farebrother | 50,342 | 8 | 9% |
| 8 | Colliers International | 43,156 | 10 | 8% |
| 9 | Gerald Eve | 25,959 | 3 | 5% |
| 10 | Levy | 19,302 | 3 | 4% |
| 11 | HNG Limited | 15,806 | 2 | 3% |
| 12 | Edward Charles & Partners | 9,562 | 3 | 2% |
| 13 | Allsop | 9,207 | 2 | 2% |
| 14 | Monmouth Dean | 8,951 | 3 | 2% |
| 15 | GVA | 6,778 | 1 | 1% |
| 16 | Kinney Green | 5,171 | 2 | 1% |
| 17 | Mellersh & Harding | 5,164 | 1 | 1% |
| 18 | MB&A | 3,745 | 1 | 1% |
| 19 | Crossland Otter Hunt | 3,162 | 2 | 1% |
| 20 | Hanover Green | 3,162 | 2 | 1% |
