2018/19 has been a pivotal year for Leeds’ property market. We’ve seen new residential and commercial buildings venture into the sky, the green light has been given for further building investment, and those steps to evolve the City Region have triggered a movement in both national and global companies as they migrate to and begin to expand within Leeds.
As our City’s cause for celebration and a well-deserved pat on the back grows, we thought we’d take a look at the developments and achievements that have taken over our newsfeeds over the past 12 months.
Building Leeds’ success
Leeds as a ‘future city’ will be host to a second-to-none digital presence and a celebrated business community, and its buildings are acting as a platform and a catalyst for this ongoing change.
New research from Savills has found that office take-up reached 657,000 sq ft during 2018, exceeding the 10-year average of 490,000 sq ft by 34%. Interestingly, Leeds office supply is falling, currently standing at 826,000 sq ft – however, this presents an opportunity for developmental changes that will offer new, distinctive and world-class office spaces within great buildings.
The Majestic is one such building and the next Grade A project due for completion, comprising some 66,000 sq ft and being developed by the Rushbond Group. MEPC’s 4 Wellington Place will follow on as the next ‘future city’ development we see towering above us, providing 155,000 sq ft of new space in Q4 2020.
But, with demand being greater than supply, it begs the question: who are these organisations that are fighting for a Leeds-based home?
As we covered in our latest journal entry, London vs Leeds: Closing the gap, we’re beginning to see a great variety of companies moving to and growing within the City Region due to growth opportunities, talent levels and value for money. This is again highlighted by Channel 4’s recent news to move to Leeds.
As a base for companies, Leeds offers every possible advantage and benefit required to grow a brand and entice a workforce – including world-class fibre optic connections, an award-winning cultural, leisure and evening scene, and some exceptional planned enhancements to its wide-ranging transportation options. Leeds is now home to a multitude of multinational companies from Burberry and Sky Betting & Gaming to Reed Smith and GHD, and these companies are only going to continue forming, changing and evolving our ‘future city’.
We can’t forget, however, that it’s not just commercial development that’s driving our City forward – Leeds has seen a huge rise in health, residential and educational new builds in the past year.
According to research from the Leeds Crane Survey 2019, the City has seen the most Health and Education floorspace under construction – 743,000 sq ft – since the start of the Leeds Crane Survey in 2007. Equally, it’s seen the most student housing new starts – 4 – under construction in the history of the Leeds Crane Survey, and the City Centre currently has 2,232 residential units under construction. An incredible amount of work would have gone on behind the scenes to make all of these developments a reality, and it’s for this reason that we seized this opportunity to highlight the strength, success and ambition of the City. We hope Leeds continues to seize opportunities and build upon its unrivalled reputation.
To read a little bit more about these game-changing developments, click here.
Get in touch
Leeds is at the heart of lots of amazing offers and opportunities, and as a part of that we’re able to not only attract great people to work here, but live here, settle here and set up their roots here.
If you are thinking about relocating your business to Leeds, get in touch with our agents Richard.Thornton@eu.jll.com of JLL or Eamon.fox@knightfrank.com of Knight Frank to see how we can help you.
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