Neil Kirkham of CBRE and Andrew Owen of Worthington Owen say Liverpool risks falling behind other UK cities if it doesn’t take urgent steps to address its chronic shortage of grade A accommodation. Tony McDonough reports
Agents behind Liverpool’s only remaining grade A office space say the delivery of the proposed £200m Pall Mall scheme is critical to the city’s economic future.
Neil Kirkham of CBRE and Andrew Owen of Worthington Owen say Liverpool risks falling behind other UK cities if it doesn’t take urgent steps to address its chronic shortage of grade A accommodation.
Both firms oversee the marketing of No 4 St Paul’s Square, which along with 20 Chapel Street offers the only office space in the central business district of the top standard.
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In the last few weeks the city council has announced a joint venture with CTP and the development arm of construction giant Kier in a bid to bring forward 400,000 sq ft of mixed-use space, including 100,000 sq of office space in the first phase.
Liverpool’s headline rent for grade A currently stands at £21.50 per sq ft – the lowest of all the UK’s major cities and considered too low to tempt speculative developers.
Both Neil and Andrew are urging the city council to make the scheme happen. Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has said the council could commit to a pre-let at the site.
Neil said: “While No 4 St Paul’s Square is able to meet the requirements and aspirations of occupiers looking for suites from 1,000 to 35,000 sq ft of grade A space, there is a need for the market to offer and deliver buildings that can accommodate requirements of more than 40,000 sq ft, for which there are a number of current requirements.
“For a city of the stature of Liverpool to go the best part of a decade without bringing forward new product is simply not good enough. We know that with the right product to sell we can bring in those outside occupiers.”
Andrew pointed out that Liverpool also lags behind other regional cities in terms of business density and said it was in the city council’s interest to make sure Pall Mall goes ahead.
He added: “We have seen elsewhere, in Chester for example, how the co-operation of the local authority can help bring new office development forward.
“More occupiers means more employment, more business rates for the city and more corporate business for the midweek hotel market. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”