Fiera Real Estate and Cubex have secured a major investment deal for their Halo, landmark green office building at Finzels Reach in Bristol. Prominent legal firm Osborne Clarke will move its Bristol office from its current location in Temple Quay to Halo.
Tesco Pension Investment has paid nearly £70m in a forward funding deal for the innovative 116,000 sq ft, Grade A office, currently under construction as part of the Finzels Reach regeneration project.
Halo is set to be one of the greenest office buildings in the UK, with the developers targeting a BREEAM Outstanding accreditation to meet the toughest new sustainability assessment criteria. In addition, the future-focused building will also feature leading edge digital and is being designed to prioritise the well-being of its occupants. Halo’s key features will include outdoor space on the rooftop, a bike park and glazed façade to maximise views and daylight.
In February, international legal firm Osborne Clarke agreed to take nearly two thirds of Halo – 74,000 sq ft – in a pre-let deal, two years ahead of completion. The firm will relocate 600 staff from its Temple Quay office into the leading-edge, smart workspace at Halo, taking the top five floors including a private roof terrace. Three remaining floors, of circa 42,000 sq ft are available to let through letting agents Knight Frank and Lambert Smith Hampton.
Commenting on the deal, Peter Walford, director at Cubex, said: “This is a very significant office investment deal for Bristol, particularly in the current economic climate, and reflects not only the quality of the building we are developing but the strength of interest in the city.
In September 2019, planning consent was granted to transform the former Avon Fire and Rescue headquarters site into around 300 homes and cutting-edge sustainable offices to support Bristol’s growing economy, alongside £2.4m of improvements to the area around the site. These include new landscaping, traffic management and pedestrian and cycle routes which will help make the area more attractive and foster a strong sense of community.
Leading organisations such as Channel 4, Historic England and English Heritage, Simmons & Simmons, Barclays, EDF and Bafta-winning BDH have already made their base at Finzels Reach. This growing neighbourhood, with hundreds of new homes, a hotel, and workspace, is also a fast-emerging social hotspot, home to Finzels Reach Market, Left Handed Giant, Mission Pizza, Pacific Yoga, Café Matariki, Spicer + Cole, Bocabar and Le Vignoble. When complete, 3,300 people will live or work at Finzels Reach and the development will have a total investment value of £400 million.