THERE may not be another major commercial property built in Glasgow until 2019 as a result of the uncertainty following the Brexit vote. Jones Lang LaSalle has reported that Glasgow’s commercial property market enjoyed a 72 per cent increase in take-up in the second quarter of 2016 when compared with 2015, but the future holds “concerns and challenges.” JLL director Alistair Reid said the Brexit vote was likely to lead to lower take-up, but said in the strength of the first half of the year would carry 2016 through ahead of the five-year average. “I’m not confident in future development, and sites with planning consent for the next cycle of [Grade A] builds. We might not see a new building in Glasgow until late 2018 or early 2019,” he said. Glasgow is facing a shortage of Grade A office space as a number of construction projects come to an end, with construction on the next cycle not yet underway. “I’m not confident anything will be built on spec," said Mr Reid. "It will be pre-let, like Morgan Stanley.” In the first quarter of 2016, Morgan Stanley took a pre-letting of around 155,000sq ft at 122 Waterloo Street, which to a strong quarterly performance. As a result of the Morgan Stanley deal, the second quarter dropped 42 per cent quarter-on-quarter. But, the second quarter was up 72 per cent on 2015, with take-up at 166,914sq ft in the three months to June 30. Across Greater Glasgow and the west of Scotland it was 434,789sq ft. JLL called the performance of the Glasgow market as “stellar” in the run up to, and immediately after, the vote, noting that there were 58 deals completed in the quarter, with 30 of those for properties in the City Centre. Mr Reid said: “The Glasgow office market remains robust. It has had an excellent first half year.” The commercial property market has been among the hardest hit since the Brexit vote. Just yesterday, The Herald reported that a survey carried out by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) indicated that the overall UK market may be entering a downturn. The report said that there had been a significant dip in both confidence and demand in the Scottish commercial property market since the June 23 vote. Mr Reid said: “There’s not been a significant change in live transactions but we don’t know what the underlying sentiment is.” JLL was involved in the largest city centre deal in the quarter, which saw AXA take 49,424sq ft at the Cuprum building on Argyle Street. The next largest deal of the quarter saw Regus take 29,020sq ft at Tay House on Bath Street. Outside the city centre, JLL was involved in a deal which saw Glasgow School of Art secure 117,500sq ft of space at Kelvin College on Shamrock Street, Cowcaddens. The City Centre headline rent was £30 per sq ft and JLL expects this to remain stable throughout 2016.
Despite a " stellar " performance in the run - up to the Brexit vote , voters did not see a new commercial property built until 2020 , according to mayor Lang LaSalle . The city 's commercial property market saw a 72 % take - up in Q2 2016 YoY. However , with current construction projects coming to an end , there are no Grade planned builds in the next cycle of planning . The two largest city centre deals in Q2 saw AXA taking 49,424sq ft and Regus 29,020sq ft .