The multi-million pound upgrade of twin Leeds office blocks is paying dividends for a city based developer with two more prestige businesses agreeing to take space.
Agents CBRE and Jones Lang LaSalle are about to negotiate the lease of the final office space within the recently refurbished 30,568 sq ft Minerva building after property firm BNP Paribas and global financial services company, UBS, agreed deals on more than 4,000 sq ft.
Evans Property Group’s (EPG) investment in Minerva and its neighbouring office building, Capitol, forms part of the £20m transformation of the Bond Court area of Leeds city centre. Work will start shortly on the construction of a 90-bed, four-star hotel.
“We were confident that the time was right to deliver this new Grade A space as supply is so severely limited in core locations within the city,” explained Alan Syers, portfolio director at EPG. “We are delighted to have attracted and retained such high-profile occupiers and at how quickly the space has been snapped up.
“The current status of supply and demand in Leeds means that the interest in the recently launched Capitol is also attracting significant interest and we are set to emulate the success of out Minerva buildings.”
UBS has taken a ten-year lease on 2,500 sq ft of Minerva’s 8th floor and BNP Paribas has relocated from the neighbouring Capitol office block into a 1,600 sq ft first floor suite on a five year lease.
Since the completion of the Minerva upgrade last autumn, law firm Gateley has taken 7,500 sq ft of space on the 8th and 9th floors with existing tenant, technical recruitment agency CDI AndersElite, moving into a larger suite in line with the firm’s continued expansion.
Alex Hailey is associate director of office agency at CBRE. “The high quality finishes, the prime location and the ability to split floors to provide suites from 1,500 sq ft upward have all contributed to Minerva’s success,” he admitted.
“We are now looking forward to welcoming more discerning occupiers to what we believe is one of the best quality buildings in the city in the near future.”
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