York looks good too

What is impressive about the regional market is that there is a healthier situation in other towns and cities.

The improvement is not confined to Leeds because there has been plenty of activity in York, such as a 124 bedroom hotel at Layerthorpe for Tiger Developments and four deals at the Stirling Park Industrial Estate, Clifton Moor.

The four deals total 3,066 sq.m. (33,000 sq.ft.). DTZ’s Paul Mack said: “Clifton Moor continues to be the location of choice for many businesses and trade counter operators in York and the wider North Yorkshire area.” At York Business Park, Evans of Leeds has sold three office and hybrid business units at Opus Avenue and Novus Avenue for £1.54 million.

Richard Flanagan of Lawrence Hannah said: “These deals are another chapter in the success story of York Business Park, which is well located two miles from the city centre.” In the centre, Mott MacDonald has taken space at St Saviour
House through DTZ whose Eamon Fox said: “The city’s reputation as the centre for the UK rail industry makes it an attractive destination for professional firms such as Mott MacDonald.” The consultants made the decision after cycling
to work was the preferred mode of transport for its staff. At nearby Knaresborough the tea and coffee merchants, Taylor of Harrogate, has leased a 6,968 sq.metres (75,000 sq.ft.) distribution centre on the 22 acre St James Business Park. Roger Quarmby of St James said: “It is one of the final pieces in the jigsaw of our successful business park, which we have been developing for the past 15 years.” He believes that the success of the business park “will help to drive the economic growth of the historic town of Knaresborough.”

Holiday expansion

The steady expansion of the business has led Great Railway Journeys to lease additional space in Saviour House, York close to the world renowned Shambles. The company, which specialises in escorted group holidays by rail, has taken 1,189 sq.metres (12,800 sq.ft.) through Sanderson Weatherall. Great Railway Journeys’ Martin Johnson said: “We actively encourage our customers to visit our offices to discuss their rail journeys and the central location of Saviour House is ideal for customers and staff.”

Also in York, Instant Offices Managed LLP has leased 2,853 sq.metres (30,706 sq.ft.) through Jones Lang LaSalle in Quintain’s Hudson House, Toft Green. Instant Managed Space has taken a two year lease and following the refurbishment of the space, will sub lease it to Network Rail, which already occupies a big chunk of the buildings. This will allow Network Rail to relocate some of its work force while refurbishment of its existing George Stephenson House next door proceeds.

The future of regeneration?

The question hanging over the commercial property industry in Yorkshire is, what effect will the ending of the Yorkshire Forward RDA have on regeneration? Clearly reductions in regeneration are inevitable to accord with the tougher economic climate. That is the case in Bradford where the ambitious redevelopment of the Odeon site has been scaled back, as have projects in Grimsby, Scarborough and Rotherham. In many cases the return on schemes by the RDAs has been very favourable and a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that for every £1 spent by an RDA, regional economies benefited by £4.50, a figure which is increased substantially.

Another problem intrudes on the debate in the changes to planning laws. According to John Howell, Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Decentralisation, the coalition’s presumption in favour of sustainable development would be a thread running through the new planning system. Howell said that councils that failed to plan for new developments would be, “assumed to have a completely permissive planning system.” A developer could then build “what they like, where they like and when they like” provided they met new national planning guidance being worked up in tandem with the localism bill.

Howell suggests that this would give incentives to councils and his views have been welcomed by the British Property Federation. Where the RDAs are concerned, assets will be transferred or sold to a variety of organisations such as local authorities, local enterprise partnerships or central government (or even the private sector). In the view of Martin Farrington of Leeds City Council that might not favour regeneration. “We need to have controls and guarantees in place so we don’t lose the original economic purpose for securing the sites. If they were controlled by a body that did not share that vision, then it would set Leeds back years.” Clearly that would apply throughout Yorkshire. This could mean a number of visionary plans would not go ahead.

Rewarding army town

Catterick is another town which is going ahead with regeneration in a deal between Lingfield Securities and Defence Estates. The £15 million project will create around 11,148 sq.metres (120,000 sq.ft.) of retailing and leisure as well as an 80 bedroom hotel and 285 car parking spaces. Advised by GVA, Defence Estates’ Geoff Dixon commented: “Our first priority is supporting our armed services and their families.

We look forward to working with Lingfield to ensure that a sustainable community for the soldiers, their families and the local population is delivered at no cost to the MOD budget.” Paul Brewer of GVA said: “We are already seeing major interest from large national retailers looking to gain representation within the scheme.” There has been a considerable amount of regeneration in Catterick, such as the leisure centre, and the plan is to link all the new sites.