12:10pm Tuesday 24th August 2010
By Ron Godfrey
MERIDIAN House, the £3.6 million York office complex which was the HQ of the ill-fated Jarvis Group, has been fully re-let.
Corus Rail is taking the whole building on a new ten-year lease, with Jarvis administrators occupying part of the ground floor until their work is complete Max Reeves, of York property agency Reeves and Co of York, which brokered the deals, said the speed with which the building had been filled should give a welcome boost to confidence for the city’s business sector. He also argued the move reflected a generally positive trend over the past three months, in spite of continuing tough trading conditions.
Meridian House, the impressive five floor block behind the Reel Cinema off Blossom Street, was built for Helmsley Group by S Harrison in 2004.
Jarvis leased it until it went into administration earlier this year.
Now the new occupiers are taking up residence, even before the Jarvis administrators have fully completed their work. Mr Reeves said: “There’s no doubt that the business sector is still finding it tough, with banks still not yet lending on acceptable terms. “This is reflected in the commercial property sector at all levels, but the deal on Meridian should give encouragement all round that, with the right building, in the right place, there are occupiers still eager to take space.”
Reeves and Co said in the past three months it had let or sold office space in and around the city totalling 90,000 sq ft, which was as much as they had expected to achieve in the whole of 2010.
Mr Reeves said: “It’s an indication that there is a genuine demand out there and that there are deals to be done. The knock-on effect of businesses moving offices or taking up more space, in terms of a boost to the local economy, is significant.”
Corus expects to move in to the 25,000 sq ft building, which can house about 350 staff, this month.
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