Reading: Virgin Media to move into Green Park as IQVIA heads to town centre

Virgin Media has completed its letting of an 120,000 sq ft headquarters building at Singaporean group Mapletree Investments’ Green Park campus on the outskirts of Reading in a deal that sees existing tenant IQVIA move out to around 55,000 sq ft at M&G’s 3 Forbury Place in Reading town centre.

The lettings have also cemented Mapletree's confidence in pressing on with a major next phase of speculative office development at the Green Park scheme.

Telecoms giant Virgin Media will move its UK head office to Green Park this year after taking an assignment of IQVIA’s lease of all 120,000 sq ft at 500 Brook Drive . It joins other international occupiers who have moved to Green Park in recent years including Bayer, PepsiCo, Thales and Huawei.

Rents are not being disclosed but quoting rents on existing space are at around £37.50 per sq ft.

Mapletree will now push on with 400 and 450 Longwater Avenue which will comprise 114,000 sq ft net of offices each. Construction will start in February.

Totalling 228,000 sq ft, the project provides column-free office space, to be accredited by the WELL Building Institute.

The new Green Park Railway Station is scheduled for completion in autumn 2019, providing a direct link to Reading mainline station and Crossrail services.

Singaporean REIT Mapletree completed its 100% acquisition of Green Park from Oxford Properties for around £563 million in May 2016.

Cushman & Wakefield and Campbell Gordon act for Mapletree; CBRE advised Virgin Media.

Separately IQVIA has completed the letting of 55,000 sq ft at 3 Forbury Place, one of three offices at the Reading city centre campus.

IQVIA, the group created out of the merger of IMS Health and Quintiles, is understood to be taking a 15-year lease paying in the mid 30s per sq ft.

M&G Real Estate is advised by Campbell Gordon and CBRE, and IQVIA is represented by CBRE.

M&G Real Estate bought the Forbury Place estate in 2012 and it included the existing 220,000 sq ft No.3 Forbury Place. Occupiers in the building include Osborne Clarke, PwC, Convatec and Yell.

No.1 Forbury Place was the first M&G building to complete at the estate, as part of the development, and was let to SSE prior to practical completion and the energy giant’s South East super hub which accommodates 2,000 people.

Source: CoStar