ABSTRACT REGISTERS NEW GLASGOW LETTING

Abstract has completed another letting at its St Vincent Plaza development in Glasgow to a public sector body. The building will be occupied as the new Glasgow base for Registers of Scotland (RoS), a non-ministerial government department, and follows hot on the heels of recent lettings to Whyte and Mackay and KPMG.

RoS will relocate from Hanover House in Douglas Street and will take the entire third floor of the development comprising 17,294 sq. ft. on a new 15 year lease from January 2016.

It is envisaged that fit out work will begin in the coming months, with RoS moving in the second half of 2016. 

St Vincent Plaza is a speculative ‘Grade A’ office development of 172,280 sq. ft. arranged on lower ground, and 10 upper floors, that was completed late in 2015. The building occupies a prominent position in Glasgow City Centre and has been designed to support highly efficient occupancy levels from day one.

Witha BREEAM ‘Excellent’ environmental accreditation and an EPC B rating, the development provides the most cost effective new build city centre office accommodation anywhere in the UK.

Mark Glatman, Chief Executive of Abstract, commented: “We are delighted to add Registers of Scotland to our list of fantastic occupiers at St Vincent Plaza. There are some big uncertainties in the world at the current time but the Abstract approach to development, offering a great quality ‘Grade A’ office at a really competitive pricing point, continues to appeal to occupiers who want uncompromising value from their operational property and who see that Abstract buildings create an asset to their businesses rather than just an overhead.”

Sheenagh Adams, Keeper of the Registers of Scotland, said: “This is a fantastic office space that will bring us significant improvements – the space is more flexible, and will reduce our carbon footprint by more than 50 per cent. This new space will support our digital transformation, helping us to deliver the products and services that Scotland needs from RoS.”

Christopher McPherson, Development Director of Abstract Securities said, “The letting to Registers is a further positive endorsement of this development. We have let almost 75,000 sq ft in the last few weeks and interest levels remain strong. We are now the only building in the City which can offer close to 100,000 sq ft of new ‘Grade A’ space in a variety of sizes.

“Prospective tenants will not have the opportunity to take new space offering this combination of quality and value again – our pricing point is less than much of the second hand stock in the City.

“There is a lot of talk about new schemes in Glasgow but no-one is actually building. Our message to occupiers is don’t delay coming to talk with us if you have office requirements in the next two years or you will probably miss the boat.’’ 

Joint agents for St Vincent Plaza are CBRE and Ryden. Cushman & Wakefield represented Registers of Scotland. For more information visit www.stvincentplaza.com
Image shows: St Vincent Plaza, Glasgow.

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For media information, please contact Pauline Gregory on 07833 490964 / pauline@skylarkpublicrelations.com or Lisa Mennie 07825 225 414 / lisa@skylarkpublicrelations.com

KPMG COMMITS TO ABSTRACT IN GLASGOW

Professional services firm KPMG has concluded an agreement to lease the top three floors at Abstract’s St Vincent Plaza development in Glasgow.

The global business has committed to relocate from 191 and 163 West George Street in 2016 and will take the entire 8th, 9th and 10th floors of the development comprising 39,705 sq. ft. on a new 15 year lease without break (with an option to extend) from January 2016.

It is envisaged that their fit out work will begin early in 2016 in advance of occupation in the Autumn.

Around 350 of KPMG’s Glasgow-based staff will move to St Vincent Plaza. The firm also employs more than 175 people at its UK Tax Centre of Excellence at 123 St Vincent Street in the city.

St Vincent Plaza is a speculative ‘Grade A’ office development of 172,280 sq. ft. arranged on lower ground, ground and 10 upper floors, which was completed in September. The building occupies a prominent position in Glasgow City Centre and has been designed to support highly efficient day one occupancy levels from 1 person per 6 sq. m.

With a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ environmental accreditation and an EPC B rating, the development provides the most cost effective new build city centre office accommodation anywhere in the UK.

Mark Glatman, Chief Executive of Abstract, commented: “We are delighted to welcome KPMG to St Vincent Plaza. This is a huge endorsement of the Abstract approach to development and to our commitment to this location in the City and the outstanding value and quality offered by this building.

“KPMG joins a great list of occupiers we have secured in our developments across the UK over the last three years including Virgin Atlantic, The Pension Protection Fund, Talk Talk, Aker Solutions, Whyte and Mackay and several others who see the benefits of the buildings we create as an asset to their businesses rather than simply as an overhead.”

Craig Anderson, Senior Partner for KPMG in Scotland said ”This investment in larger, state- of-the-art offices, in a stunning location, signals our confidence in the plans for further growth of our business in Scotland. We continue to expand the range of offerings we have alongside our core areas of expertise.”

Christopher McPherson, Development Director of Abstract said, “We have had significant occupier interest in this development since completion and it is fantastic that KPMG have seen the merits of our building over the other options available to them after an extensive due diligence process. It is particularly good to be able to confirm this letting so soon after Whyte and Mackay committed to the 4th floor and I believe we will fill the remaining space soon.

“Occupiers in Glasgow are waking up to the fact that there are no new schemes which can be delivered in the City until at least 2018/2019 and that assumes a start on site today. Existing Grade A offices are disappearing fast.

“The quality of our scheme coupled with a pricing point which is below some second hand space in the City, is resulting in strong interest - we could let the remainder of the building twice over based on current enquiries. Prospective tenants will not have the opportunity to take new space offering this combination of quality and value again.”

Joint agents for St Vincent Plaza are CBRE and Ryden. Knight Frank represented KPMG.

For more information visit www.stvincentplaza.com Image shows: St Vincent Plaza
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For media information, please contact Pauline Gregory on 07833 490964 / pauline@skylarkpublicrelations.com or Lisa Mennie 07825 225 414 / lisa@skylarkpublicrelations.com

For KPMG, please contact:
Phil Addicott, The BIG Partnership, 07824 666956 phil.addicott@bigpartnership.co.uk

About KPMG

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 22 offices across the UK with approximately 12,000 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.9 billion in the year ended September 2014. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. It operates in 155 countries and has 162,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. 

ABSTRACT TOASTS WHYTE AND MACKAY

Whyte and Mackay have concluded an agreement to become the first occupier to lease space at Abstract’s St Vincent Plaza development in Glasgow.

The Company has committed to relocate from Dalmore House in early 2016 and will take the entire 4th floor of the development comprising 17,726 sq ft. Fit out work will begin shortly.

St Vincent Plaza is a brand new speculative ‘Grade A’ office development of 172,280 sq ft arranged on lower ground, ground and 10 upper floors. The building occupies a prominent position in Glasgow City Centre and has been designed to support highly efficient day one occupancy levels from 1 person per 6 sq m.

With a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ environmental accreditation and an ‘EPC B’ rating, the development provides the most cost effective new build City Centre office accommodation anywhere in the UK.

Mark Glatman, Chief Executive of Abstract, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Whyte and Mackay as our first tenant at St Vincent Plaza. The building is of the highest quality and the views, even from the lower floors, are stunning. We strongly believe that our developments need to be an asset to our occupiers, not just an operational overhead, and we are confident that we have created the perfect example here – brilliant flexible space, great environmental credentials, and a really competitive pricing point”. 

Bryan Donaghey, Chief Executive of Whyte and Mackay, said: “We will be relocating in Spring 2016, leaving our existing building across the road which we have occupied for over 25years. Our relocation was necessitated by the need to upgrade the quality of our working environment for both our staff and our customers. St Vincent Plaza’s close proximity to our existing offices, combined with its large open floor plans, views around the city, and excellent environmental ratings made the decision for us. We are very excited about the move and will be undertaking a state of the art fit out to meet the needs of our global business.“

Christopher McPherson, Development Director of Abstract said: “Occupier interest in Glasgow has been very strong through 2015 and the number of current enquiries for the City far outweigh the availability of ‘Grade A’ offices – space is letting up fast and there have been no new build starts so the next new building is probably around 3 years away.

“Interest levels in St Vincent Plaza since we completed the development have been extremely encouraging and the comments that we have received following viewings of the property are overwhelmingly positive in terms of the quality of the building itself and the accessibility of the immediate location.

“Scottish Power are due to complete their HQ opposite us in 2016 and with Santander adjacent, and a number of other significant occupiers in close proximity this is the fastest developing office location in the City. We fully expect further letting announcements to follow very soon”.

Joint agents for St Vincent Plaza are CBRE and Ryden. GVA James Barr represented Whyte and Mackay.
For more information visit www.stvincentplaza.com

Image shows: St Vincent Plaza, Glasgow a 172,280 sq ft speculative ‘Grade A’ office space completed in late 2015. It remains the most competitive new City Centre office development within the UK, with rents from just £23 per square foot

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For media information, please contact Pauline Gregory on 07833 490964 / pauline@skylarkpublicrelations.com or Lisa Mennie 07825 225 414 / lisa@skylarkpublicrelations.com

Whyte & Mackay

Whyte & Mackay was founded on the docks of Glasgow in 1844 by James Whyte and Charles Mackay, who had a mission to create a truly Scottish blended whisky. This partnership laid the foundations for the company’s continued growth over the next century, with the company now producing and distributing some of the most highly-awarded and respected whisky and spirit brands.

The multi-award winning portfolio includes its flagship Whyte & Mackay Blended Whisky, The Dalmore Highland Single Malt, Jura Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Fettercairn, Glayva Liqueur, and Mackinlay’s. The company also distributes Flor de Caña and RumChata in the UK.

Whyte & Mackay Ltd operates in the heart of Glasgow where they have been for over 170 years. The company employs over 470 people across the world, and owns 5 distilleries and a state of the art bottling plant. 

F&C PT ACQUIRES ABSTRACT’S LEONARDO BUILDING

F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd has acquired Abstract’s Leonardo Building near Gatwick Airport at a price equating to £45.342 million and a net yield of 5.3%.

Abstract is developing a 110,545 sq ft office building on a 3 acre site at Manor Royal, Crawley with 401 car parking spaces.

At the end of May Abstract announced that it had leased the building in its entirety to Virgin Atlantic Ltd for a term of 16.5 years off an initial rental of £23.00 per sq ft.

Commenting on the purchase, Daniel Plummer – Head of Offices at BMO Real Estate Partners (on behalf of F&C PT) said “We are delighted to have secured this investment leased to a first class Tenant in an area of very limited supply with strong growth potential”.

Mark Glatman, Chief Executive of the Abstract Group commented “We are really pleased to have concluded this transaction with F&C PT. The Leonardo Building will be a great asset when completed combining highly cost efficient space with great environmental credentials”.

Savills represented Abstract in the sale with Pinsent Masons LLP providing legal support.
Dowley Turner Real Estate represented F&C PT with Forsters acting as solicitors to the purchaser. For further information:
Contact :
Mark Glatman (Abstract Group of Companies) on 0207 747 8272

THE TEAM

“The idea behind the photography was to show a variety of trades and occupations involved in building St Vincent Plaza and produce an archive of faces and details to personalise the building.

Some of the lighting and poses were based on fashion photography from the 1940s and ‘50s, and the four large ‘Abstract’ prints are inspired by work from German/American photographer Horst P Horst.”

— Iain McLean, Photographer