An office building at Thatcham Business Village in West Berkshire could make way for industrial.
Flexspace No.3 has applied to West Berkshire Council to demolish the southernmost building on one hectare of the park (Unit 100 in Colthrop Way), which is part of the Flexspace Business Centre, and replace it with 39,250 sq ft of industrial space for use classes B2 (general industrial) and B8 (storage & distribution).
Hollis Hockley was instructed to market space at the park in 2020 but had seen little interest from office occupiers.
In a letter in support of the application, partner Jeremy Metcalf said a lack of best-in-class office space has caused a number of large occupiers to leave the Newbury area to surrounding markets such as Reading and Basingstoke.
He went on: “Post covid, employers are looking to significantly downsize due to the use of hybrid working policies.
“As such, demand is weakening and supply levels are increasing significantly. Occupiers are also looking to significantly increase the quality of their accommodation to entice employees back to the office.
“Given the local office market dynamics and quality of space at the park, we believe that Thatcham Business Village does not have a viable future as an office park.
“It is unlikely that the vacant offices will ever let again. It is well suited for alternative employment use, for industrial and logistics.
“The industrial market is currently suffering from an acute lack of supply and record occupier demand levels.
“The provision of new industrial and logistics space at Thatcham Business Village would be well positioned to let and more than likely bring a new employer and associated jobs into West Berkshire.”
Image: Google.
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