Wellington Place is not just a thriving urban quarter in the UK – it’s setting the pace for future trends in property. As we step into 2025, Paul Pavia, Head of Development at MEPC, the developer and asset manager behind Wellington Place, reflects on the highlights of 2024 and what lies ahead for the coming year.
2024: A year of resilience and growth
“Wellington Place had a strong trading performance in 2024, driven by its focus on high-quality, sustainable office spaces that align with occupiers’ ESG strategies. The swift uptake of our newest buildings 11 & 12, some of the most sustainable office buildings in the UK, by prominent businesses such as Hill Dickinson, JLL, GHD, Lloyds Banking Group, and Arup reflects the demand for top-tier spaces in the Leeds property market.
“We’ve welcomed lots of new occupiers to our community, including Saffery and Evelyn Partners, and Global Banking School (GBS) moved its Leeds campus into the entire 1 Wellington Place building. New food and drink outlets, including Pret, also opened their doors.
“Aside from new lettings, we were also proud to launch our Wagon Lifting Hoist Mini Museum. Located on the ground floor of the Grade II listed landmark lifting tower – one of the last remaining parts of the original Leeds Central Station – the mini museum celebrates Leeds’s rich industrial heritage. It was made possible by a comprehensive privately funded restoration programme.”
The office property market in 2024
“After a period of uncertainty around space requirements following the shift to hybrid working, businesses are now generally settled on their working space requirements. In fact, some businesses who made an early call to downsize are now re-visiting those decisions and it feels like generally, demand for high quality office space has never been stronger in Leeds.
“However, there is now a challenge to meet this demand as older obsolete office stock is repurposed and removed permanently from the market and constrained investment means that very little new stock will be added to the supply over the next few years.
“This is a potential concern for the growth of regional cities and the economy in general as the service sector, which is reliant on office space, is the UK’s largest industry and a key driver of economic performance. This supply demand imbalance has led to unprecedented rental growth which shows no signs of abating and rents for the best quality, best located refurbished space now exceed the rents achieved from the last phase of new build development, which is quite remarkable.”
2025: key trends to watch
“Good quality refurbishments will need to fill the supply gap in 2025 while we wait for a return to new build development. At Wellington Place we have spotted this opportunity in the market and will be carrying out a significant refurbishment of 2 Wellington Place next year. It’s already generating strong interest.
“There will also be more obsolete offices sold at low prices and repurposed for other uses including hotel and residential.
“We expect by the end of 2025 and maybe before, a new build or two will be coming out of the ground. This includes 9 Wellington Place, which has already received planning approval. History tells us that first mover advantage in a recovering market is key to maximising returns for investors and this time the strong occupier story makes the rationale for being the first even more compelling.”
Looking for new office space in 2025? Check out availability at Wellington Place here.
