_Sheffield office market overview: October 2017

With all of the cranes poised above Sheffield's skyline at the moment, it is certainly a city with a lot of physical transformation underway and all of the developments at the New Retail Quarter including a gateway office building let to HSBC totalling approximately 140,000 sq ft of offices and 60,000 sq ft of retail space due for completion in 2019 will benefit the city as it comes to fruition.

2017 has shown a significant improvement in office transactions and deals over 2016, which saw total transactions of 200,000 sq ft over 12 months, beaten during the first nine months of 2017 with a recorded take up of 310,000 sq ft at the end of September.

Certain projects within the Sheffield City Region have seen particularly strong levels of interest and specifically those which offer a high standard of accommodation, which shows that the market is still healthy despite broader economic uncertainties.

This level of interest is also translating into deals and we can report that schemes such as 3 St Paul's Place in the Heart of the City development is now 50 per cent let/under offer leaving approximately 40,000 sq ft over five floors left to market, demonstrating demand for the city's premium accommodation. Occupiers include Arup, Handelsbanken and BDP Architects to date.

At the digital campus, opposite the rail station the new Acero building is 60 per cent under offer, which also delivers some of the highest quality of space in the city, leaving a further 30,000 sq ft of Grade A space offering large and flexible floor plates to let, to meet occupier demand.

In addition to these, Steel City House, the iconic building at the junction of West Street and Trippet Lane offers 66,000 sq ft of Grade A office space in the central Business District, is due for completion shortly. The two top floors are under offer, and we have good interest in the building.

^{Above: Steel City House}

In terms of out of town space, we are seeing strong interest at ARBA Group's Meadowhall Business Park, which is undergoing a high-quality refurbishment, and we are now looking at 60 per cent of the 70,000 sq ft development fully let, with blocks two and four available to let in suites of 1,500 sq ft upwards.

The most recent notable letting at the park is Tuffnells Parcels Express which has taken 15,000 sq ft which makes up the entire block one building, which Knight Frank's building services team is appointed to undertake the fit out work for.

Also, works have started on the refurbishment of Hallamshire Business Park off Ecclesall Road, to the South West of the city. Two office buildings totally 65,000 sq ft close to Waitrose, which can deliver suites from 7,000 sq ft. Knight Frank confirm there is serious interest in both buildings.

With supply of prime offices diminishing across the city, we are now looking at rental growth in the office sector, which is clearly positive news for investors and developers.

Working closely with our Leeds Office, our Commercial Property Team in Sheffield works alongside developers, landlords and commercial property occupiers. The team is on hand to advise on all commercial and mixed use property assets across Yorkshire and the North Midlands.