One City Place fully let with pair of deals

Specialist agricultural lender Oxbury Bank has taken 6,000 sq ft and Transport for Wales Rail has taken almost 5,000 sq ft at the office development in Chester.

The six-storey One City Place features 69,913 sq ft of office accommodation and is located on Queen’s Road in the centre of Chester. It was the first office building to be constructed as part of Muse Development’s £120m City Place mixed-use scheme next to the city’s railway station. The project completed in 2016.

The BREEAM ‘Excellent’-rated One City Place is now owned by Federated Hermes. The latest lettings take the building to fully let. Oxbury, which provides specialised lending to farmers, signed a 10-year lase to take more than 6,000 sq ft on part of the fourth floor to accommodate its expansion plans. It will relocate its 80 employees from offices at nearby Steam Mill.

Transport for Wales Rail, meanwhile, has agreed a deal on 4,916 sq ft on part of the fifth floor, also on 10-year lease. Transport for Wales Rail is a Welsh government-owned train operating company and a subsidiary of Transport of Wales.

Sutton Consulting acted for Transport for Wales. CBRE acted for the landlord Federated Hermes in both deals.

Marie Daly, Transport for Wales’ chief customer and culture officer, said: “This acquisition is part of TfW’s ongoing transformational change programme and expansion, which includes an investment of more than £800m in new trains.

“This facility will be used for the training of our frontline colleagues and will feature a simulator of the new trains to be introduced across Wales and the Borders network over the next few years.”

Neil Mort, senior director in CBRE’s Manchester office agency team, added: “Both Oxbury Bank and Transport for Wales Rail will benefit from prestigious Grade A office workspace located in the city’s gateway and adjacent to the city’s mainline railway station.”