Capital Quarter

I had a relative from Colwyn and I think a lot of north Wales has gone the same way as many coastal towns. I hope post-devolution we don't move away from the importance of cross border links with the parts of England doing well.

With the exception of the lovely Llandudno all the north Wales coastal resorts are pretty grim places these days. Bangor is a bit different though as it was never primarily a resort. It's more of an Aberystwyth or a Carmarthen than a Barry or a Rhyl.

Noticed a few things on a run this morning:

1. A tower crane is being erected on the student accommodation site. Looking forward to seeing this one going up to add density to the area.

2. The ground floor of number 1 is being fitted out. Anyone know what's going here?

3. Looks like at least some of the MSCP (hopefully all of it) is being clad in bricks (a buff colour). Was thinking we'd have cheap white render so was a pleasant surprise to see this and it matches the brickwork in the areas outside number 1.

4. Some signs of early fit out of number 2 for, I presume, Public Health Wales. But still quite a bit of work to do to finish off the outside areas and they don't seem to be in a rush.

5. Not Capital Quarter I know but I also saw that the no fit state circus site around the corner being demolished. Was a crying shame that they demolished the warehouse previously used by WNO on the site next to it as that would have offered a nice contrast to a new development. Hopefully there'll be the chance to make better use of the arches units as part of the new plans to add a bit of interest to the site and hopefully draw in some independents to make the whole area feel less corporate. The fact that there'll be X hundred students soon moving in just around the corner might draw in some A3 tenants and possibly some retail.

I'm looking forward to seeing that student accommodation going up for the same reason. It finishes off phase 1 of the development.

Number 3 should be starting soon-ish as well you'd think. They've had planning permission for a few months and had mentioned starting in March so it'll be interesting to see if that actually happens.

Although not strictly Capital Quarter I'd like to see J R Smart get on with that residential tower at Herbert Street, although until they find a residential company to take that on with them I guess it won't be happening.

Also, while talking about J R Smart, we haven't seen plans for the John Street at Callaghan Square development, I wonder when we'll see them ? Surely soon if they've started demolition.

Only a holding page but...

http://capitalquarter.com/capital_quarter_four.html

... could be seeing plans for "4 Capital Quarter" announced soon.

Also, there is now a timetable for No. 3. Construction to commence this month and complete in late 2017.

Only a holding page but...

http://capitalquarter.com/capital_quarter_four.html

... could be seeing plans for "4 Capital Quarter" announced soon.

Also, there is now a timetable for No. 3. Construction to commence this month and complete in late 2017.

So would this be the land between No.3 and the car park?

They've definitely accelerated the progress of Capital Quarter quite a bit. The competition between Rightacres and JR Smart can only benefit the city, and it seems like take-up of office space is keeping up with the developments. The whole thing could be done by 2019. I want to see what the tower will look like so hopefully they release the rest of the plans relatively soon. I'm also waiting for some John Street announcements. It wouldn't surprise me if they just expand Capital Quarter into that site.

I think they would probably aim a bit higher in terms of rents on John St - Callaghan Square. Capital Quarter is now probably 2 notches below prime rents. First phase was getting £18 a square foot when prime was £21. Second phase has been getting £19-20 a square foot, when prime has been edging up towards £24 - 25 a square foot. I think that reflects its location, but also the fact that the specification has been a bit lower. It is somewhat "edge of Centre" and has been fitted out as such.

John St, while only a couple of hundred metres away is right on Callaghan Square, and that bit closer to the station. I think that makes it more competitive for those who want to right at the heart of it. So I think they may go for something that more matches the specification of Central Square, but undercut it a little bit (maybe £22-23 a square foot).

The recent Property Week report suggested that the site could take up to 350,000 square feet of development. It wouldn't surprise me if they were going to try to get HMRC for that site - depending on the density they cram their staff in they would want 200-350k square feet. Still close to public transport. And if its a bit cheaper?

I think something of a price war could start on the Interchange and John Street, unless we see some other large requirements properly materialise. Because I get the feel that going from one of the cities with the least supply of Grade A space - Cardiff could, in the next few years, end up with a bit of a glut.

Depending on the footprint of the John Street development, we could see quite a tall building if 350,000 sq ft is the aim. At first I thought the land was large enough to provide that space and stay relatively low-rise, but looking at it now, the triangular shape of the land would mean that to reach 350,000 sq ft the building would have to have some height, and could be anywhere between 20 and 30 floors. If the plan was originally to mass the buildings with increasing height from the student accommodation then the tower at John Street would need to surpass that of the Herbert Street flats (what has happened to them?) and the proposed Capital Quarter tower. Now that the demolition has been carried out, surely it's only a matter of time before we see some plans.

This was included in the planning application for No. 3 Capital Quarter (aka Block H). I'm sure the details may change, but the massing gives an indication of what we can expect for No. 4 (aka Block I).

Block J really interests me, it looks like two towers of around 24 storeys are planned, the other being the Herbert St site. I'm suprised they sought planning permission for the Herbert St site before finishing the other buildings, but I suppose they had their reasons.

Still no news on JR Smarts Callaghan Square site either.

Herbert Street is meant to be residential. I think the tower in Capital Quarter proper is meant to be either office or hotel. Probably think that going for some resi now might be good to diversify - esp if they share some worries about a drought becoming a flood in the office market.

The Herbert Street site is waiting on them finding a residential sector company to come on board I think, at least that's the last thing I read about it. What I find odd is that it isn't on any of their websites at all, not that I'd expect it on the Captial Quarter one, but at at least on the main J R Smart one below.

http://jrsmart.com

As well as updating their Capital Quarter site recently with the details discussed above they've also updated the site above, with a placeholder for the John Street site...although they've not done it properly as it has a dead link.

Good news that another tenant has signed up to the scheme, with only 18,000 sq ft left of number 2 to fill.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/opus-energy-creating-more-100-11302246