As befits the county and its inhabitants, the improvement in the commercial property market has proceeded without fanfare.
But it is still a real improvement which can be evaluated in the take up figures for Leeds this year and the growing shortage of Grade A space. That is a problem faced by many UK cities and is a result of the deadening effect of the recession on business confidence.
It is changing, as witnessed by Town Centre’s plan for a large scheme at Whitehall Riverside and the fact that ISG is building an 7,899 sq.metres (85,000 sq.ft.) headquarters in Leeds for the healthcare ITT business TPP (the Phoenix Partnership). There are also plans for new business parks, such as near Selby. A further indication of the improved climate is the expansion at MEPC’s Wellington Place with the building of 10 Wellington Place and planning consent now in place for two other units, 5 and 6.
Equally as important is that the effort to transform Doncaster centres on a new link road to the M18 which has been seized upon by developers, such as Verdion for a massive indoor rail port. The impressive point about this is the single minded way Doncaster council has pursued these schemes throughout the recent recession. That is known as Yorkshire grit.
The industrial and logistics market is also on the up with a noticeable rise in manufacturing which is bringing a real revival to the Yorkshire woollen industry where the emphasis is on quality and tradition as manufacturers pull their production back from the Far East.