Southampton: JLL and Realest secure one of city's largest office deals this year

Advised by property consultancies JLL and Realest, commercial law firm Bond Dickinson has let the third floor of its offices at Oceana House, Southampton, to PwC on a short-term basis while the international accountancy firm’s existing building at Ocean Village is comprehensively refurbished.

The deal totals just under 10,000 sq ft, making it one of the largest office deals in the city this year.

Bond Dickinson, which recently announced a 7% increase in turnover to £106.4 million for the 2014-15 financial year, has 153 people based in its Southampton office; this includes 24 new hires in the past 12 months.

Jon Hales, Southampton office head at Bond Dickinson, said: "Our Southampton office is going from strength to strength with our lawyers advising on numerous high-profile transactions during the last year, including the £450m regeneration scheme of Southampton's Royal Pier waterfront on behalf of both Associated British Ports and The Crown Estate and advising on two key energy projects for longstanding client Renewable Energy Generation (REG)."

Steve Williams, director of Realest, commented: “While we have seen a good improvement in enquiry levels for city centre offices, securing tenants has been challenging with a number of parties opting to move out of the city centre to the region’s business parks.

“Although the letting to PwC is only for the short term, it allows the company to commit to Southampton on a long-term basis which is very encouraging for the market and the city alike.”

Nella Pang, associate director at JLL, commented: “The last two office development sites in Southampton are rumoured to be applying for alternative use, which leaves no new office space in the city centre in the foreseeable future.  Therefore competition for refurbished quality accommodation is high due to the lack of suitable alternative options.

“We are advising our clients who are seeking to relocate to commence their negotiations early to avoid disappointment.

“We believe that landlords who take early action and press the button on providing high-quality refurbishments will prosper.  This trend is certainly now playing out with a number of existing JLL and Realest high-quality refurbished office instructions in the city centre under offer.”