Orbit Developments sees significant leasing bounce-back

Commercial property landlord and developer Orbit Developments has revealed the company has exceeded pre-pandemic levels of office leasing as businesses return to their offices after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company is a significant commercial landlord in Stockport, owning sites in throughout the borough including Regent House in the town centre and Cheadle’s Park Square. Despite lettings almost halving at the height of pandemic restrictions during 2020, the commercial property market has seen a remarkable recovery.

Figures released this week by Orbit Developments have shown its office take-up for South Manchester in Jan-Dec 2019 was 208,303 sq ft, significantly more than the pandemic year of 2020 when it dropped to 123,340 sq ft, but in 2021 lettings are back in rude health with 245,195 sq ft of office take up across the area.

Orbit’s Managing Director Tony Jones (pictured) commented:

“The market has generally remained pretty resilient despite the impact of the second lockdown at the start of 2021 and, more recently, the measures brought in to tackle Omicron.

“Customers are telling us that they value the role physical offices play in ensuring business success and staff wellbeing and, while we know the way in which they use the space will change and evolve, they are looking at planned returns. It is good news.”

The company has also revealed that the final months of 2021 saw very strong general activity and deals completed for Orbit – almost 180,000 sq ft of lettings was delivered across a diverse range of property including retail, industrial, office and leisure, with retail leading the recovery charge. Tony Jones continued:

“Out of town and high street retail has come back a lot stronger than we could have expected with customers returning in numbers to large outdoor retail parks and retailers following the trend. Many have either renewed existing leases or taken space in new units.

“Restaurants have also clocked the higher shopper traffic and started to gravitate towards the out of town locations.”

Looking ahead, Tony concluded:

“It is a buoyant picture. We will continue to work closely with customers across our portfolio to meet their needs in 2022 and help them deliver the best possible letting solution they can for their businesses.”