£2.5m investment attracts hattrick of new tenants for Sunderland office building

A large Sunderland office building that was home to HMRC for a quarter-of-a-century has undergone a radical refurbishment to transform it into modern, hybrid offices and three companies have now signed leases to move in.

North West-based commercial property investors, Kingscrown Group, snapped up the 36,000 sq. ft. Waterside House from previous owners Topland Group and has invested significantly to remodel and refit the building, which is now ready to occupy.

Fast-growing insurance firm, iRevolution Group, has signed a 10-year lease for the entire first floor which is 12,237 sq. ft. The landlord, Kingscrown Group is fitting out the space to suit the occupiers’ bespoke requirements, as part of the deal.

iRevolution Group is independently owned and includes companies PolicyLink, 1st UK Commercial and Utilink Consulting. The group, which has operated out of a base in the Hylton Park area of Sunderland since 2020, is moving to Waterside house to facilitate further expansion.

Commercial Joinery Specialists Ltd. has taken Suite 3, which is 583 sq. ft., and Inspired Care has signed a deal for 292 sq. ft. in Suite 10 both located on the ground floor of the building. Knight Frank and Connect Property are joint agents for the building which has views of the River Wear and is based on Sunderland Enterprise Park.

“The fact that the landlord is prepared to carry out a bespoke fit-out for you, is proving a very attractive proposition for prospective occupiers. It’s an affordable location and the significant investment programme underway at Riverside Sunderland is also a big draw,” said Partner at Knight Frank, Patrick Matheson.

The new interior has been designed for an evolved, post-pandemic business world and the ground floor includes office suites, meeting rooms, break-out spaces and kitchen areas to suit a variety of different sized businesses.

Managing director of iRevolution Group, David Muirhead, said: “We are very excited to have found a home for our group of businesses for the next decade. We were keen to find the right location within the city of Sunderland that would allow us to expand and develop without constraints, and that is what we have found.”

Neighbouring office occupiers include Berghaus, TSB, Sunderland NHS and Sunderland City Council, Avant Homes and Taylor Wimpey. The design, by Standing Space and installed by main contractor Tec Cr8, takes its inspiration from Sunderland’s shipbuilding heritage and has an industrial feel with a blue colour palette to represent the nearby water.

The building, which benefits from 185 car parking spaces, EV charging points and 24/7 secure access for tenants, has offices on the ground floor from 250 sq. ft. to 2,288 sq. ft., with options to take larger spaces up to 25,000 sq ft on the first and second floors.

Kingscrown Group specialise in breathing new life into commercial buildings and own a diverse portfolio of high quality residential and commercial properties based in the North of England, including a number of developments in Teesside.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

• Add me on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up to date
• And follow Bdaily on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
• Submit press releases to editor@bdaily.co.uk for consideration.

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →