First & Second Floors, 173/178 High Street, Southampton
16 November 2011
Aberdeen Asset Management have let over 40,000 sq ft of space with Southampton town centre within the past 18 months Tesco, The Gym Group and Solent University have all taken long 10 or 15 year lease at the Aberdeen owned building as negotiated by Osmond Brookes.
Tesco acquired the ground floor of the former TX Maxx unit in order to operate their Express convenience format while The Gym Group has invested in excess of £1million to fit out their ‘pay as you go’ 24 hour concept. The Gym, the Uk’s fastest growing low-cost gym chain provides state of the art gym facilities at only £15.99 a month. With no joining fee and a simple on-line joining process, the Gym is open 24 hours a day (www.thegymgroup.com).
The 18000 sq ft first floor suite above Tesco was taken on a new 10 year lease at £100,000 pa.
Solent University have taken the entire 2nd floor, also of 18000 sq ft, and have just opened the newly relocated FMAS department specialising in design graphics & special effects.
Simon Andrews at Aberdeen sees this actively as having helped to re-generate the High Street end of the City’s retail pitch and build footfall to make it a vibrant part of the city scene. “This transformation can be attributed to TK Maxx’s decision to relocate into a more prime location at the end of their lease and our willingness to sub divide and invest in the building. Tesco’s were first to spot the opportunity to locate next to Argos, and this helped attract The Gym group, who are a phenomenal operation providing great value to those who are looking for an affordable work out. We were thrilled when Solent decided to take the 2nd floor as the students are going to add even more to the vitality of the area and are a major improvement on the old snooker hall that used to occupy that part of the building. This has been a major success as this has delivered very complementary uses which should all benefit from each others presence. We had to undertake extensive works, including removal of escalators, installation of new lifts, upgrades to power supplies and the creation of a new entrance lobby on Castle Way.
Jeremy Braybrooke, at Osmond Brookes, AAM’s letting agent added ‘In the context of the City Centre, where the largest office letting this year has been just 7500 sq ft, this single building has achieved a major element of the take up of space. It has been great to secure such good lettings, and we still have the 3rd floor, self contained Annex building and a Castle Way retail unit available. The 3rd floor has some great views over the City Centre and Docks and benefits from such excellent adjacent occupiers’.
For further information:
Contact: Jeremy Braybrooke
Email: jeremy.braybrooke@osmondbrookes.co.uk
