QA Higher Education has agreed to lease 45,000 square feet at Euro Properties Investment’s freshly renovated Louisa Ryland House offices in central Birmingham, CoStar News can reveal.
The higher education provider has agreed a 15-year lease over five floors of the Grade II listed building on Newhall Street, including the ground, first, part second and third, fourth and fifth of the Grade II listed building.
The deal is the largest Birmingham office letting so far this year, with joint agents quoting a rent of £31.50 per square foot for the office, which has undergone a multi-million pound refurbishment to provide 80,000 square feet of Grade A accommodation.
QAHE will move across town to 44 Newhall Street from 5-7 Hill Street, also known as City Centre Tower, where CoStar data suggests the firm was leasing around 29,281 square feet. The company joins flexible workspace operator Re-Defined, which occupies 26,000 square feet at the central Birmingham address.
Louisa Ryland House is two distinct, interconnected office buildings over seven floors. It sits in the heart of Birmingham city centre, close to the junction with Colmore Row. Both New Street and Snow Hill Railway stations are nearby.
The property was bought by Euro Property Investments in April 2015 for £7 million, or a capital value of £85.92 per square foot. CBRE and JLL were appointed as joint leasing agents in January 2021.
Louisa Ryland House was formerly occupied by US coworking group WeWork, which agreed to let the entire building in a deal struck in 2019, its second office in the city. But it vacated the building as part of an 174,000-square-foot retreat from the Birmingham market. It retains around 80,000 square feet at 55 Colmore Row.
Theo Holmes, senior director and head of office agency at CBRE in Birmingham, said: "The letting to QAHE means the building completes with an anchor tenant and flex service provider in place.
"For QAHE, in addition to the quality of the space and the teaching environment it will provide for students, on a practical level the ability to occupy at high density and having its own entrance to the building were key factors in its decision to relocate to Louisa Ryland House."
Earlier this month CoStar News revealed that UK newspaper and media outlet Reach Media had inked a deal to take 12,000 square feet at 3 Brindleyplace. CoStar News also revealed at Mipim2023 that Praxis was in advanced talks to buy a large slice of Brindleyplace, with a guide price of £195 million or a 7.25% yield.
According to CoStar senior market analyst Lisa Dean, office demand in Birmingham city centre has been dominated by Grade A activity, demonstrating a "flight to quality" within the market, and causing a increase to headline rent, which sit at around £40 per square foot. Vacancy rates, however, stand at 7.8%, higher than the UK national average.
Market experts have tipped the city as a potential hotspot for investment this coming year, with factors such as the successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games, the promise of new high-speed rail connections and a large university population making it attractive to suitors both domestic and international.
Daniel Watney advised QAHE; CBRE and JLL advised Euro Properties Investments.