North Sea oil and gas giant Harbour Energy is consolidating its Aberdeen office footprint across two sites at Prime Four after striking a deal to move into a second building at the business park.
Property agent Knight Frank said the letting completed a “grand slam” of recent deals it has played a key role in to help secure new space for energy majors in the Granite City.
London-listed Harbour is the UK offshore oil and gas industry’s biggest producer.
It has secured 34,000sq ft. of Grade A office space at Prime Four, in Kingswells.
The company will occupy the whole of Unit 9, a highly energy efficient, two-storey office building arranged over four wings.
Rubislaw House will soon become surplus to requirements for Harbour
A spokesman for Harbour said the new office accommodation was “conveniently located” near to the firm’s existing Prime Four base at Upper Denburn House.
Employees working at another Aberdeen location, Rubislaw House on Anderson Drive, will relocate to Prime Four.
The spokesman added: “The new unit consolidates our footprint into a single campus location and will provide high quality and modern office space for our business.
“Those currently working for Harbour Energy at Rubislaw House will relocate to one of our Prime Four offices during 2024.”
A date for the move has yet to be decided but the firm is working towards it being sometime in the summer, he added.
Harbour’s spokesman was unable to provide headcount numbers for the firm’s offices in Aberdeen.
The company moved out of the Silver Fin building on Union Street in August 2022.
Last year the firm announced it was axeing 350 onshore jobs in the UK, blaming the offshore energy industry windfall tax.
Knight Frank at heart of Aberdeen office deals for Shell, BP and now Harbour
Knight Frank represented US-based energy services firm Schlumberger, the current occupier, in letting space to Harbour at Prime Four.
Aberdeen-based property specialist FG Burnett acted on behalf of Harbour.
Other recent property deals for energy majors in Aberdeen include Shell relocating to 100,000sq ft of prime office space in the Silver Fin building and BP extending its 192,000sq ft lease at Stoneywood – the Granite City’s largest office transaction of 2023.
Knight Frank was involved in all three deals.
Eric Shearer, head of office for the property firm in Aberdeen, said: “We would like to express our gratitude to clients and the other agents involved for getting these deals done in what has been a difficult market.
“It has become increasingly clear in Aberdeen over the last 12 months that occupiers need to plan for the future and provide high quality accommodation for their staff, in order to encourage them back to the office.”
He added: “The health of the Aberdeen commercial property market is still fundamentally tied to the price of Brent crude which has, thankfully, been trending at more than $70 per barrel for the last two years.
“This is driving strong occupier demand for commercial real estate and a significant increase in deal flow since the lows of the pandemic.
“That is making it more competitive for occupiers that want to secure the best space.
“Planning ahead will be more important than it has been for some time.”
The Grade A vacancy rate in Aberdeen has dropped to under 2% – the lowest on record for the city.
Flight to quality in Aberdeen market
Knight Frank Aberdeen partner Matt Park said: “The emphasis on prioritising high-quality space, which has been evident since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, remains a noteworthy trend.
“Occupiers are placing a growing importance on the highest quality buildings in their decision-making process. As a consequence, Grade A availability has dropped to a record low.”
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