Looking beyond the High Street and local retail properties, the office and industrial sector in Farnham, Alton, Bordon and the surrounding towns has seen a flurry of activity since the start of the year.

Investment boom

According to local commercial property agents, this activity is not limited to business occupiers, and they point out that the investment market has also been busy.

An example of this is at Farnham’s Millennium Centre in West Street, where the owner is looking to sell the investment of the 31,340 sq ft office development, located in Crosby Way opposite the Memorial Hall.

Best bids have been invited and, with tenants including Gaffney, Cline & Associates and IN-SYNC Group, the investment is expected to fetch around £7 million.

Soaring demand

Elsewhere in the town, the Waverley Borough Council-owned Enterprise Centre at Coxbridge Business Park is now fully-occupied, following a letting of 1,000 sq ft of office accommodation at the scheme to an IT business at an annual rent of £22,500.

Alex Blown of Curchod & Co confirmed that, despite the uncertainty in the office market, the letting highlights the demand from businesses for good quality properties.

It is certainly good news for the council which, in addition to providing accommodation for small and medium-sized businesses, uses the income it receives to help fund local services.

New arrival at Hurlands

Another Farnham scheme that is now fully occupied is the Hurlands Business Centre, where a recent deal has seen the letting of Unit 6, a 1,346 sq ft office property, to Meadowside Osteopathy.

Hurlands Business Park is home to eight businesses including Rock Choir, the world’s largest contemporary choir.

Bordon record broken

Local agents are also seeing good levels of activity in Bordon’s commercial property market.

On the Bordon Trading Estate, a warehouse property of over 10,300 sq ft, has been let to Celab, an electronic parts and components supplier, which has taken the modern building at £11.50 per sq ft, thought to be a record rent for the town’s industrial property market.

The warehouse was undergoing a full refurbishment by the landlord, M7, and the deal was completed before the works were finished, meaning that the Bordon Trading Estate, which has 19 industrial and warehouse units, is yet another local development that is 100 per cent occupied.

German pharmaceutical business Fereseniuf Kabi is leaving Lion Court, just outside of Bordon – but a new occupier could be close at hand...
German pharmaceutical business Fereseniuf Kabi is leaving Lion Court, just outside of Bordon – but a new occupier could be close at hand... (Google Street View)

Nine-acre site vacant

As always, there is churn in the local market and Fereseniuf Kabi, a German pharmaceutical business, is set to relocate from Lion Court, just outside Bordon on Farnham Road, which has over 26,000 sq ft of office, warehouse and laboratory space, on a site of nearly nine acres.

While the property is on the market for sale, market rumours suggest a deal is close to being agreed upon, which could be good news for employment prospects in the local area.