Portsmouth: City achieves record headline rents for industrial space

The Nelson Centre, owned by Aviva Investors, is now fully occupied following a major revamp that has achieved record headline rents for the Portsmouth area.

Five businesses have moved into refurbished premises at the site off Portfield Road, which consists of high-quality units. Industrial property specialists at Lambert Smith Hampton, working with joint agents Vail Williams, have achieved the full occupancy over the past 18 months.

The latest occupier is windows specialist Install Base, which has taken up a refurbished 4,999 sq ft unit comprising of warehouse and office space. The letting has achieved a new headline rent for the Portsmouth industrial market, breaking over the £10 per sq ft mark – meaning the city is now edging closer to the headline rents achieved in Southampton.

The four other units have been let to Construction Plant Sales, App Wholesale, Cade Roofing Building Services, and ASV Global.

Guy Jackson, an associate director of Lambert Smith Hampton’s industrial property team and based at the Fareham office, said: “The Nelson Centre is a real success story for the Portsmouth industrial market and we are delighted to see it fully let.

“The new headline rent for Portsmouth is fantastic news for the local economy and underlines the growing demand for high-quality industrial premises within the city. Historically, Portsmouth has lagged slightly behind Southampton in terms of demand for industrial property, but we are seeing this gap narrow.

“The confidence in Portsmouth as a great city to do business continues to be strengthened by its excellent links to the M27 and A3 corridors.”

Lambert Smith Hampton, which has offices in Fareham and Southampton, is a multi-award-winning commercial property specialist and has the largest transactional team in the Solent region, with 13 specialists working in the industrial property, office space, retail, leisure and investment markets.