The sale of the EQ office building in Temple Meads, Bristol, is shaping up to be one of the top sales and acquisitions of 2024, leading judges to give it an Impact Award for Sale/Acquisition of the Year in the South West.
Market sources told CoStar News that investor Melford wrapped up its £103 million deal in late December. The vendor was CEG.
The transaction highlights the attractiveness of high-quality, sustainable office spaces in prime locations outside the capital, and is understood to be the largest office sale outside London, South East and the East of England in 2024. As businesses increasingly prioritize sustainable and well-equipped office spaces, the sale of EQ represents a significant investment in the future of commercial real estate.
About the project:
EQ, built by CEG in December 2023, comprises circa 200,000-square-feet of Grade A offices in the Temple Meads area of Bristol and is a 6-minute walk to the station. The building has the highest headline rent of the regional occupational markets, achieving £48 per square foot last year when law firm Knights signed for circa 6,000 square feet on the top floor. It kicked on rents from the previous high of £42.50 per square foot.
What the judges said:
"This is undoubtedly one of the best new office buildings in Bristol and the South West as is evidenced by the record rents it has achieved and the high-profile mix of tenants it has attracted. As Bristol`s first operational net-zero commercial office building it sets a very high bar in respect of its sustainability credentials. Similarly its wellbeing and communal facilities makes it an exemplar for the future workplace and workspace. A major impact in the Bristol and SW office market and sets a new benchmark in this sector," said Andrew Pearce, director at Hector Pearce.
"EQ has raised the bar for quality, sustainability and amenity in the City, driving Grade A headline rents towards £50 per square foot and re-establishing Victoria Street as a key office location within the central business district," said Chris Howell, director, Howell Commercial.
"EQ offers not only best in class space to Bristol but to regional UK – it offers one of the best office buildings outside of London in the UK" added Peter Musgrove, Lambert Smith Hampton's head of South West and Wales, and a director.
They made it happen:
Ian Wills, director, office agency, Oliver Paine, head of capital markets, Shannon Johns, associate director, capital markets, all at JLL; Paul Richardson, asset manager at CEG; Steve Lane, head of office agency at Cushman & Wakefield; Luke Schuberth, managing director at architect Aukett Swanke; and James Osborne, director at Melford.
