Scotland Soon to Witness its Biggest Leasing in a Long Time
The Scottish energy consultant Wood Mackenzie’s move to the Edinburgh Exchange Place development is being seen as the largest real estate deal in Scotland. The company, currently based on Queen Street, is about to shift offices and move into 40,000 sq ft of office space in the new establishment. This area comprises 20% of the desk space available at Exchange Place. Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, the owner of the development, has demanded £28 per sq ft rent, which will push up the total annual rent for Wood Mackenzie to around £1.1m. It has also been reported that Hymans Robertson and Scott- Moncrieff have entered into similar agreements for renting a total of 17,700 sq ft of the development. Further, Darryl Tidd, the SWIP investment director, pointed out that negotiations are going on with a prospective tenant, who might take around one third of the remaining office space in the development. However, there has been no official confirmation of any deal as yet. Tidd also added that the new development is quite likely to rise in capital value, resulting in immense profits for the company. He also said that Exchange Place will generate more attention and interest especially in light of the prevailing shortage of quality office space in the city. If the agreement works out, the market value of Exchange Place will increase together with the commercial property values in Edinburgh as a whole.
