Reading: Green Park welcomes Bayer and Thales and hits over 90% occupancy

Oxford Properties has announced significant new lettings to Thales and Bayer at Reading’s Green Park, together with deals to expand the offices of existing occupiers Proofpoint and Datto.  The combined lettings exceed 215,000 sq ft, and take the occupancy rate at Green Park to over 92%.  

Thales has exchanged on 350 Longwater Avenue, comprising 111,064 sq ft, taking the building on a 20-year lease. It will be bringing a number of its business functions to Green Park from Basingstoke as well as making Green Park its UK headquarters, relocating this function from Addlestone in Surrey. 

Bayer, is relocating from Newbury town centre and is taking 80,000 in 400 South Oak Way on a 15-year lease. Oxford Properties is currently undertaking a major refurbishment of the building, which is due for practical completion in April, followed by a fit-out period. 

JLL acted for both Thales and Bayer. 

At the same time, Green Park has agreed a new 10-year lease with existing occupier Datto, which has taken 16,420 sq ft in 250 Longwater Avenue, having outgrown its current 5,159 sq ft in 100 Brook Drive. Datto, headquartered in the US, provides products and services for hybrid cloud business continuity, planning and disaster recovery.

Another existing occupier, Proofpoint, has also concluded a new 10-year lease of 8,400 sq ft at 100 Brook Drive, having outgrown its 4,165 sq ft suite in the same building. Also headquartered in the US, Proofpoint provides SaaS and on-premises solutions for inbound email security, outbound data loss prevention, privacy protection, email encryption, electronic discovery and email archiving.

Rory Carson, director-asset manager at Green Park, said: “Green Park is home to some of the world’s largest brands and most successful companies across a variety of business sectors. Our reputation as a community where businesses and people can grow and flourish continues to attract new occupiers from across the South East, and from around the world.  We are delighted that we can also help our current occupiers grow and expand.”

Andrew Stuart, managing director, EMEA, Datto, said: “We see 2016 as a year for major expansion. Our move to new larger premises is a testament to our company’s success since choosing Green Park for our EMEA HQ. The new offices will accommodate a growing team. Currently, we are actively recruiting and plan to increase headcount significantly to service our growing client base across the region, as the demand for our data protection and recovery technologies grows.” 

Campbell Gordon and Cushman & Wakefield act for Oxford Properties.