Recent reports suggest that Serviced and Traditional Office Markets in Cardiff and the South Wales region appear to be thriving despite the credit crunch. Over 200,000 sq ft of commercial office space deals are currently promising to give a huge boost to current occupancy levels across Cardiff and Newport with British Gas, Scottish & Southern and Centrica all expected to take space within the region.
The market is also set to expand with The Welsh Assembly Government planning a new mixed-use site located at The Mill, Cowbridge Road West to the West of Cardiff. The development is set to be environmentally sustainable and to comprise of over 43,000 sq ft of allocated Commercial Office Space, adding substantially to the current Conventional and Serviced Office space of the Capital City.
Serviced Office Giant Regus are the latest to invest in the area. They are currently in the process of developing a brand new, eco-friendly property which will sit on junction 23a of the M4. The location offers fantastic transport links both into South Wales itself towards Newport and Cardiff and across the Severn Bridge to Bristol.
The business centre is being constructed on the brand new Wales One Business Park, an impressive ~60m site stretching 17 acres. The area will be mixed-use with facilities, including a luxury hotel and private crèche, beginning to open from February next year and construction of the entire site ongoing over a period up until the end of 2009.
The property will sit on the gateway to South Wales, near to the thriving city of Newport where heavy investment is currently transforming the city centre and the promise of the Ryder Cup in 2010 looks set to bring a big economy boost to the area. We spoke to Tina Scarrott, General Manager of the new Wales One Business Park Centre regarding the current Office Market in the South Wales region, Tina told us that it was flourishing and that the new centre was in response to the large amounts of enquiries that Regus had been taking for Newport City. The company have also seen ongoing success in Cardiff, with their Cardiff Gate centre maintaining very high occupancy levels over the last 4-5 years.
Officially opening in February 2009, if you would like further details on the exciting new Wales One Business Centre please click here.
With so much investor interest and enduring occupancy levels, coupled with the upcoming Ryder Cup, we can safely say that the future looks bright for the South Wales Office Market!
I think the credit crunch and recession are being blown out of all proportion, if everyone just stopped talking about it then it may not happen but the more people keep saying that we are in recession the more likely it is that we will be!
I disagree, I think that discussion cannot cause a recession. If anything, a lack of communication could make it worse.