St Neots based property consultants and agents Barford + Co has announced the completion and opening of James Hall, the second building in an exciting new office development at St Ives Business Park.
[UKPRwire, Thu Jan 03 2008] St Neots based property consultants and agents Barford + Co has announced the completion and opening of James Hall, the second building in an exciting new office development at St Ives Business Park.
James Hall was officially opened on the 12th December and thanks to the excellent weather, guests including representatives of the Town Council, local dignitaries, solicitors and commercial property agents were able to appreciate the full splendour of the building and its lakeside setting.
Developers, Lexitron completed the first building, Grant Hall, in February 2007. This was built on a speculative basis, and was pre-let in its entirety prior to completion by retained agents, Barford + Co, to St Ives property services company, Partners in Property PLC.
Attracted by the high specification offices and impressive lakeside setting, potential tenants for James Hall kept a keen eye on construction. This has resulted in the pre-letting the 4578 sq ft second floor office suite prior to completion.
Barford’s director Phil Halmshaw commented: “The letting of the second floor at James Hall demonstrates the ongoing demand for offices in St Ives. Although many of the office buildings in the St Ives Business Park are being let to expanding local companies, there is now potential for attracting businesses from Cambridge. With rental values in the range £14 to £16/ft2 in St Ives, compared with around £23/ft2 in Cambridge there is now a decent differential.”
The 20,875 sq ft James Hall is one of the largest speculative office developments to be undertaken in the Huntingdonshire area and has been designed to take full advantage of the natural surroundings of the business park. The imposing building has also been fitted with a myriad of impressive features such as a triple height glazed entrance, large reception area with marble floor, feature balconies overlooking the lake and a high tech cable/fibre optic capability.
Lexitron’s managing director, Michael Smith commented: “James Hall and Grant Hall were both constructed to a very high standard after identifying the demand for superior offices with D H Barford + Co. With the forthcoming Guided Bus Route giving superb links to Cambridge Railway and Science Park, along with the proposed congestion charging set to hit Cambridge we see St. Ives becoming an even more important office location with increasing demand for quality offices. Having achieved pre-lets on 60% of the space created in Grant Hall and James Hall the advice received from D H Barford + Co has proved to be well founded. “
Added Halmshaw: “St Ives has become an increasingly significant business location, partly because of its close proximity to Cambridge which is just 12 miles away, but also because of its accessibility to the A14 and M11. Parking can be a problem in some areas but St Ives is relatively congestion free with plenty of parking facilities within the Business Park. This has been a deciding factor for many companies, particularly those in IT and Research and Development, who have relocated from the city. “
Joint agents for James Hall with Barfords are Lambert Smith Hampton of Cambridge.
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Editor’s notes
300dpi jpg image available from media contact
Established in 1974, Barford + Co is Huntingdonshire’s longest established commercial property businesses. In 2004 they converted from a partnership to a limited company when founding partner, David Barford retired, but he remains a consultant with the firm.
Barford’s activities extend throughout Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire. Hertfordshire and East Northamptonshire. A large proportion of work is focused on the A1 and A14 Corridors with a particular specialisation in towns of Huntingdon, St Ives, St Neots, Sandy and Biggleswade.
Contact details:
Technical information - Phil Halmshaw. Barford + Co, tel 01480 213811
e-mail phalmshaw@barfords.co.uk
Media - Val Jefferys, Ultimedia Public Relations, tel 01767 601621
e-mail val@ultimediapr.co.uk
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