Single occupier takes one third of City fringe space in Q4

A single occupier took nearly a third of all City fringe space signed for last quarter. Co-working space provider WeWork continued its bull run, acquiring more than 239,000 sq ft in the final quarter of the year, bringing its year-end total to nearly half a million sq ft. WeWork take-up activity: 2014-2016 Create column charts Two deals saw it take 29% of the total space signed for in the City fringe market: the 55,148 sq ft deal at International House, E1, together with a JLL and Colliers International-brokered 58,993 sq ft prelet deal at The Bower, Old Street, EC1. These deals helped the City fringe market to secure a relatively solid quarter. Without them, the City fringe take-up total would have fallen by more than 16% quarter-on-quarter and by more than a third year-on-year. There were two additional WeWork acquisitions made during Q4: a 52,000 sq ft deal at 15 Bishopsgate, EC2, and a 73,000 sq ft deal at the Vivo Building, South Bank Central, SE1, bringing its total central London office space acquired to more than 1m sq ft over the three-year period from 2014-2016 inclusive. A total of 101,276 sq ft was acquired in 2014, with a further 558,154 sq ft acquired the following year, which included the sizeable 167,912 sq ft deal at Moor Place, 72 Fore Street, EC2. In the City fringe, agents worked hard this quarter, with Colliers International racking up 33 deals, the largest number completed by any agent in any of London’s core central sub-markets in Q4. Colliers International, helped by its early 2016 acquisition of City fringe-specialists, Hatton Real Estate, topped the City fringe league table once again, disposing of 240,498 sq ft, and achieving a 52% market share in the process. LONDON OFFICES MARKET ANALYSIS Q4 2016   • Analysis – offices drop by 25% but rate of descent slows • Who is London’s top office agent? • London offices breakdown by submarket • London office investment down by 25% in 2016 • Who is London’s top Q4 agent? • Four things you need to know about the London offices market