Property specialist Knight Frank says Aberdeen's office market is on course from a strong year and is showing good recovery from the effects of the pandemic.
The consultancy says the city is set to exceed 400,000 sq ft of office deals by the end of the year– a big rise on the 197,000 sq ft recorded in 2021.
Knight Frank said 47,926 sq ft of office space was transacted in Aberdeen between July and September. With the 195,905 sq ft and 60,521 sq ft during the first two quarters respectively, take-up for 2022 so far has reached 304,352 sq ft.
The biggest deal of the third quarter was Dolphin Drilling securing 9,000 sq ft. of office space at D2 Business Park in Dyce, as offshore activity grew.
Knight Frank said several transactions were underway and set to conclude in the final quarter.
Matthew Park, partner at Knight Frank Aberdeen, said: “Although take-up slowed, there were 19 deals concluded in the third quarter – office activity so far in 2022 demonstrates that Aberdeen is bouncing back from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are enough transactions in the pipeline to believe that we can surpass 400,000 sq. ft. for the year, which would be more than double 2021’s total.
“The sustained high oil price at around $100 per barrel and the prospect of more than 100 new North Sea licenses being awarded, to boost domestic oil and gas production, in the next licensing round is trickling through into property deals, with more oil services and drilling companies issuing contract-led requirements.
"All things being equal, we would expect that to continue in the final quarter and into 2023.”
