Alder King

Alder King notes that the city’s industrial market is seeing good demand for industrial property, with particular demand from occupiers for second hand property. There have also been some notable larger distribution enquiries and Sainsbury’s are pursuing a 500,000 sq ft distribution depot on the intermodal freight terminal, which is owned by the Church Commissioners.

Ralph Collison, head of Alder King’s Exeter office said: “Exeter is well placed for the future, because the potential undersupply of development land for industrial or distribution property has been addressed by Skypark (75 acres) and Matford Park (20 acres) coming on stream, with further sites such as Hill Barton Business Park (20 acres) also being available. This will put us in a strong position and be able to attract companies looking for new regional hubs in the South West.”

The city centre’s retail market also remains surprisingly strong. The news of John Lewis taking the Debenhams building has raised expectations and Exeter as a retail centre has strengthened its catchment area as a result of Princesshay. Major schemes are planned in the city centre at the Bus Station site and St David’s Station.

However, Alder King also notes that office demand is thin across the board, with major incentives required to secure tenants. This has led to a downward trend on rents and values. There has been some movement in the middle market. The situation overall is assisted by a relative lack of new space as a result of developers not undertaking speculative development over the last five years. 1.5 floors of The Senate remain available in the city centre and the largest available space out of town is Milford House (40,000 sq ft) at Pynes Hill.

For further information about the commercial property market in Exeter call Ralph Collison at Alder King on 01392 353080.