A North Yorkshire development firm has begun work to transform a commercial property in the centre of Harrogate into a state of the art workspace for 21 businesses.
The project by North Yorkshire Property Developments is bucking the current trend to convert commercial buildings to residential dwellings by creating new designer office space for expanding and emerging businesses.
55 Grove Road is the brainchild of entrepreneur Robert Fearnley, who is looking to fill a gap in the market for contemporary office space and give local businesses a reason to stay in Harrogate instead of moving to Leeds or York.
“55 Grove Road has the potential to transform the business landscape in Harrogate by offering a new kind of working environment that doesn’t exist here at the moment and,” he said.
Robert, who has developed residential and commercial sites across Yorkshire, was originally looking for an office to house his own business in Harrogate. He wanted somewhere that looked and felt inspiring with an excellent range of facilities and a vibrant communal area to connect with other professionals. When he couldn’t find anything that filled this criteria, he decided to build his own.
Robert said the serviced office complex, which is due to be completed in February, is already attracting attention from prospective tenants.
“The premium facilities will include flexible interiors to accommodate growth and change with state of the art interior architecture, fast internet connections, inspiring meeting rooms, an outdoor terrace, and a café area with an urban coffee shop feel,” he said. The offices will also have on site parking.
“The development is good news for the Harrogate economy and will support growth in the surrounding area,” he added.
The offices are being marketed by Dan Brumfitt of Harrogate property firm FSS who said he expected most of the units to be pre-let before completion.
“It’s rare to see purpose built commercial office space of this size and standard come onto the local market which is why we are seeing such high demand and prospective tenants are also attracted by the level of attention to detail in the design,” said Dan.
“Real thought has been put into the way modern businesses work, not only with the layout of the building but with the services that will be offered including planned networking events on site for tenants.
“Add to that the wow factor of three metre high ceilings and polished concrete floors and it’s easy to see why interest is so high.”
“We expect 55 Grove Road to be fully let, or almost fully let, by the time it opens in early 2017.”