Office space in Edinburgh under threat from tourists
According to a new report, Edinburgh’s status as a top hub for businesses could be under threat from the growing popularity of the city as a tourist destination.
The Edinburgh 2019 report, launched this month by Knight Frank, reveals that there is a lack of new office space delivery.
722,000 sq. ft. of Grade B space has been converted to other use, and the rise of tourists (4.26 million in 2017) has increased pressure and impacted on new commercial delivery. Only 338,000 sq. ft of Grade A office space is expected to be delivered by the end of 2021. Grade A take-up in the city centre has averaged over 220,000 sq. ft in the last few years.
The demand is high in Edinburgh, but the delivery is low. Alisdair Steele of Knight Frank has called tourism a “double-edged sword” and clearly more must be done by the public and private sectors to secure the future of office space delivery in Scotland’s first city.