Office take-up in central Birmingham increased by a third in 2013 compared to the previous year.
Some 664,147 sq ft was let in the city core in 128 deals, according to figures from the Birmingham Office Market Forum (BOMF).
This compares with 500,955 sq ft across 133 deals in 2012.
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Central Birmingham office take-up in the last quarter of 2013 was 149,928 sq ft, achieved with 31 deals.
The biggest letting in the quarter was 33,460 sq ft to financial services company Legal and General at the Bruntwood owned Centre City Tower on Hill Street.
This was followed by a 24,850 sq ft letting to Housing 21 at CEG owned Tricorn House in Edgbaston.
BOMF was established in 2007 and brings together the city’s office agents and inward investment body Business Birmingham.
BOMF chairman John Griffiths, head of agency at GBR Phoenix Beard, said the numbers reflect a solid year for the Birmingham office market, in which occupier sentiment continued to improve and investor confidence returned to pre-recession levels.
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He said: “Significantly the market has seen an improvement in the size and quality of transactions.
“This has also been a year in which a significant amount of former office space has been taken up for alternative uses – residential, educational and hotels – adding to the diminishing supply.
“The picture is set to change during 2014 as the lack of new development, at a time of increasing demand, will lead to supply shortages that are set to continue for some years.
“With a number of key infrastructure projects completing in 2015 – not least Grand Central – this will provide a further boost to office demand in the city going forward.
“It is clear from some of the deals in 2013, that savvy occupiers have looked to move early - ahead of the 2014/15 watershed. Looking forward, all eyes are on the skyline in anticipation of the return of cranes into the CBD – but in the short term, the story of 2014 will be of increased competition for the office space that is there.”