Landlord Craigard has completed a full refurbishment of Crown House 1, a four-floor, 13,000 sq ft Grade A office building near Southampton railway station in England, a project that matters to building and architecture professionals because it shows an owner upgrading existing city centre offices to a ready-to-occupy standard rather than waiting for tenant-led fit-out. Craigard said it has invested significantly since acquiring the property in 2018, including new energy-efficient HVAC systems.

Craigard is a local property partnership that owns Crown House 1 and is letting it as a whole or in individual units.

CBRE Southampton and Realest have been appointed to market the space, which includes a fully fitted ground-floor suite with a kitchen breakout area and a dedicated zoom room.

The first and second floors are open plan and ready for tenant fit-out, while the penthouse offers glass partitioning, a fitted kitchen and breakout area, a boardroom and bespoke meeting pods.

David Foster, managing director of Craigard, said: “We are acutely aware that in order to let office space in today’s market a landlord needs to create a building and environment that occupiers and their employees want to come too and we believe we have done that at Crown House 1.”

CBRE Southampton and Realest act as letting agents.

The structural driver is a shortage of quality office suites in Southampton, which, according to Insider Media, Realest says allows Crown House 1 to offer market-leading space across a range of suite sizes.

For the sector, the timing matters because the unit mix is specific, with a 1,518 sq ft ground floor, first and second floors of 4,031 and 4,026 sq ft, and a 3,670 sq ft penthouse, giving occupiers several entry points.

The scheme follows Craigard’s earlier upgrade of nearby Imperial House which included a new air-conditioning system, showing a repeat approach.

The broader implication for the sector is that long-hold landlords refitting existing offices to a plug-and-play standard create steady refurbishment and building services work for regional contractors, designers and M&E specialists.

Source: Daily Echo / Insider Media