Legal & General’s Tempo development in Maidenhead has secured Stanley Black & Decker as its first occupier – on a rent believed to be more than £50 per sq ft.
The tool supplier is to move from Bath Road, Slough to take the 30,066 sq ft top floor of Tempo, L&G’s highly sustainable refurbishment of the 112,000 sq ft former Star House home of Three, opposite Maidenhead station. The building is due for completion in Spring.
In a statement to CoStar News, Alan Carswell, property director for Stanley Black & Decker, said: “The combination of a fantastic space, great location and the comprehensive amenity offering makes Tempo a perfect fit for our company.”
Jonathan Mannings, managing director of Thames Valley commercial property specialist Rare, said: “L&G have developed an enviable reputation for delivering top quality offices and this repositioning of the former Three HQ in Maidenhead town centre attests to their skill in producing a quality product.
“The rent, understood to be £52 per sq ft, sets a new benchmark for the Thames Valley and demonstrates that occupiers are willing to pay top rents for the best product.
“Stanley Black and Decker have been known to be looking for some considerable time for a new HQ and this is great news for Maidenhead which, until this deal, had seen its position in the hierarchy of rental values in the Thames Valley eclipsed by Windsor.
“It isn’t such good news for Slough where the relocation of Stanley Black & Decker from its Bath Road home, where it has been located for many years, is a further blow.
“And it follows closely on the news of Lonza’s planned relocation from the town to Thames Valley Park in Reading where it recently completed the purchase of the former British Gas site for a new 450,000 sq ft R&D and manufacturing facility.”
As reported in Thames Tap, delegates at Invest in Bracknell on November 23 heard the deal was imminent along with a further possible deal in which housing association Abri is said to be ready to take the remainder of the space.
Despite Berkshire’s increase, top rents for exceptional space in Oxford are still higher, although the market is smaller. North Bailey House is the highest at £63.50 per sq ft. Top rents in Cambridge are around £57 but expected to be more than £65 in 2024.
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