Member Article

Joint agents reappointed on Rainton Bridge Business Park

Following its recent acquisition of the 91,000 sq ft Rainton Bridge Business Park in Houghton Le Spring in the North East, Harbert and XLB Property have appointed joint office agents CBRE and Knight Frank.

The instruction continues the firms’ long-standing prior appointment on the project and well documented success in achieving and retaining high occupancy levels.

It was recently announced that Harbert Management Corporation, with asset manager XLB, has completed its acquisition of Project Emperor, a portfolio of UK business park assets, for £137m, from Arlington Business Parks Partnership, which is jointly managed by Goodman and Legal & General Property. Rainton Business Park is part of the portfolio.

Rainton Bridge is a major business park situated 5 miles to the North East of Durham City Centre and 7 miles to the South West of Sunderland City Centre in close proximity to Houghton-le-Spring Town Centre.

Together with the owner occupied RWE npower building, it comprises 820,000 sq ft of commercial offices with over 40 businesses already in operation and offers new companies’ grade A office suites from 4,365 sq ft to 28,771 sq ft.

The park has recently welcomed Johnston Press in December 2014 to its impressive tenant line up. The owner of the Sunderland Journal will relocate from its current Pennywell facility into some 9,000 sq ft within Alexander House on a new 10 year lease in February.

The business park boasts a state-of-the-art telecommunications infrastructure, sustainable buildings, flexible design, excellent public transport services and a powerful partnership with Sunderland City Council. It provides property for small high growth companies, right through to large corporates such as RWE npower.

The North East of England has a proven track record of attracting world leading businesses to the region, and Sunderland’s Software City Initiative has helped the city to become one of the UK’s top locations for new business start-ups.

Jonathan Shires, Senior Director of Office Agency at CBRE Leeds, said; “Rainton Bridge Business Park has strong occupier appeal due to its established location, modern office accommodation and good connectivity to the cities of Sunderland and Durham.

“Following the recent letting to Johnston Press, we are in further detailed discussions with several other occupiers and hope to announce deals in due course”

Patrick Matheson, Partner in Office Agency at Knight Frank added, “The recent acquisition by XLB Property has placed renewed focus on attracting new tenants and we believe the remaining office space will be highly attractive to a wide range of occupiers due to its high quality space and stunning landscaped environment.”

William Poole at XLB added; “Rainton Bridge Business Park is situated in a premier position within the North-East and has built a reputation as one of the North’s leading business parks. Given the strong occupier market and high quality office accommodation provided on site we anticipate a strong 2015.’’

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