MRP secures tenant for Leeds spec office scheme
Professional services consultancy Barnett Waddingham has signed a deal to take up office space at developer MRP’s City Square House scheme in Leeds.
MRP has prelet 14,000 sq ft to the firm, which focuses on risk, pensions, investment and insurance.
Barnett Waddingham will pay £37 per sq ft, with a 10-year break on a 15-year lease. It is relocating from within Leeds.
Professional services consultancy Barnett Waddingham has signed a deal to take up office space at developer MRP’s City Square House scheme in Leeds.
MRP has prelet 14,000 sq ft to the firm, which focuses on risk, pensions, investment and insurance.
Barnett Waddingham will pay £37 per sq ft, with a 10-year break on a 15-year lease. It is relocating from within Leeds.
Angus Monteith, development director at MRP, said the latest signing means the development is 85% prelet, with a final 22,000 sq ft available.
The consultancy will join law firm DLA and Markel, an SME-focused expert providing integrated insurance, tax and legal services, at the scheme. Those two companies have taken a combined total of 103,000 sq ft.
City Square House is a 140,000 sq ft speculative development and the only remaining undeveloped property fronting City Square.
When it completes, it will offer grade-A workspace over 12 storeys, including low-carbon credentials, terraces on three levels and extensive cycling, electric vehicle and e-bike charging point facilities.
Practical completion for the property, built by contractor McAleer & Rushe, is scheduled for early next year.
Monteith said: “Securing a 15-year prelet deal is a very significant and positive statement of intent in the long-term future prosperity of office space in Leeds and, indeed, in urban centres throughout the UK.”
Eamon Fox, partner and head of office agency at Knight Frank in Leeds, which advised the landlord, said: “This is a significant deal for the city of Leeds, a vote of confidence in the city and its economy. Amidst this challenging economic climate, this is just the boost the whole region needed and a genuine cause to be optimistic about the commercial property sector in Yorkshire.
“The regeneration of the city centre of Leeds is now paying dividends for the city’s economy and reputation and City Square House, so brilliantly developed speculatively by MRP, is a shining example of what can be achieved with vision and courage.”
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