New plan for Leicester offices
Developments of office space in Leicester of more than 100 sq m will no longer be restricted to the New Business Quarter, under a proposed action plan for the city’s offices launched last week by the mayor.
Leicester council commissioned a review of the market for Leicester offices earlier this year, carried out by Lambert Smith Hampton and supported by Warwick Business Management and PACEC. The review assesses future levels of demand for office development in the city, and current office stock and rental levels. The proposed action plan will be presented to property agents, developers and investors in Leicester.
Under the plan, proposals to develop offices in Leicester on city-centre sites other than in the New Business Quarter will be “welcomed and encouraged”. There will be a less restrictive approach to car parking needs, and early planning advice will be established with officers working with existing site owners in order to fast-track applications. A newly formed Commercial Office Market Forum is intended to form links between the council and property agents, and an annual office market review is to be produced.
Leicester council is to review its own land and property assets, “to see if it can bring forward possible development opportunities,” Lambert Smith Hampton notes, and is to work with partners to look at the possibility of setting up a revolving investment fund. “This would enable developers to borrow money to put in roads or other infrastructure to get developments kick-started, and pay it back once their scheme was sold or let,” the firm adds.
Jane Taylor, director in Lambert Smith Hampton’s Leicester office, says many office occupiers want to be in Leicester city centre “but there are obstacles such as parking issues and suitable levels of high-quality office space”.
“The city’s commercial area has a shortage of grade A office space that meets occupier requirements and in recent years the city centre has lost financial and professional services to business parks on the outskirts of Leicester,” she noted, adding that as in other locations, speculative office development had been restricted by the economic climate and a lack of investment finance.
“However, I am confident that if the action plan is implemented we will see an increase in new office developments, existing space being refurbished and, ultimately, more businesses being attracted to locate in the city centre.”
