THE RACE FOR SPACE

12 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 13 RACE FOR SPACE PRE-LET LOCATION ANALYSIS The City Core takes the crown for both the largest volume and the highest total number of pre-let transactions over the last ten years, largely due to the size of the office market relative to the other Central London submarkets. Also unsurprisingly, King’s Cross features towards the top of the list, having seen virtually all the new office stock secure pre-lets in recent years. Perhaps more popular with occupiers in recent years are submarkets such as Shoreditch and Southbank, which provide a more varied retail offering, combined with a more creative ‘vibe.’ When comparing pre-let take-up, but weighted by submarket stock levels, a different pattern emerges. Over the last ten years, the emerging West End submarkets such as White City, Battersea and Nine Elms have attracted pre-lets totalling more than 75% of their total stock levels. King’s Cross is second on the list in terms of performance, underlining the submarket’s appeal to occupiers in need of quality office space. Stratford is another more peripheral submarket that features highly on this ranking, buoyed by early success at the International Quarter as well as a number of transactions that took place at Here East; more than 60% of office stock in this market was pre-let. At the other end of the scale, core submarkets such as Mayfair, St James’s and Soho have struggled to attract pre-let tenants at the same quantum as the emerging locations. This is partly due to a lack of supply in the core West End but is also likely to have been influenced by the relative cost saving attached with relocating to a fringe location. SO WHAT? Occupiers are looking beyond the traditional core office markets. This is an opportunity for businesses to better reflect their brand. Established submarkets continue to attract high number of pre-let tenants. Emerging locations have a significant pipeline of space, which should see the trend of occupiers looking outwards continue. Large occupiers endorsing new locations will drive demand in emerging markets, especially where a major pre-let has kick-started the development. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Outside of Canary Wharf Knightsbridge St James’s Mayfair Soho Covent Garden Clerkenwell Hammersmith Victoria Bloomsbury Midtown Canary Wharf Paddington Shoreditch Southbank Aldgate & Whitechapel North of Oxford Street Euston City Core Fitzrovia Stratford Kings Cross Emerging West Percentage Figure 9 Pre-let take-up by submarket as percentage of stock Figure 8 Number of pre-lets by submarket (2009-2018) Source: Cushman & Wakefield Source: Cushman & Wakefield Percentage 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Outside Of Canary Wharf Knightsbridge Hammersmith Soho Covent Garden St James's Stratford Euston Paddington Bloomsbury Canary Wharf Clerkenwell Fitzrovia Emerging West End Mayfair Aldgate & Whitechapel Victoria Midtown Southbank Shoreditch North of Oxford Street Kings Cross City Core