Global real estate advisor Knight Frank has been selected to manage Castlemead, Bristol’s tallest office building, on behalf of new owners Floreat Real Estate.
London-based Floreat bought the 80m tall, 18-floor office block on the edge of Broadmead in the summer in an off-market deal. It paid £44.7m for Castlemead and Churchill House, a smaller office building in Cardiff city centre. 
Castlemead, which has a total of 133,600 sq ft office space, is home to Amazon, Blue Fin insurance, Royal Sun Alliance and Regus. PR and communications agency JBP moved into the building earlier this year after more than 20 years in Clifton.
Under the deal, Knight Frank, which has an office in Bristol, will manage rent and service charge collection, building maintenance and services and creative placemaking to support the value of Castlemead and Churchill House.
Knight Frank partner and head of property asset management Michael Lewis said: “These appointments underline the growth of our property asset management business across the South West.
“We look forward to working with Floreat to manage these prestigious assets in Bristol and Cardiff, two of the UK’s most dynamic office markets.”
Floreat bought Castlemead and Churchill House from Oval Real Estate in July. Oval, also based in London, had owned Castlemead for just over two years, during which the building underwent a major refurbishment, including updating its reception area.
Castlemead, which had previously been owned by property management group F&C Reit, was designed by A.J. Hines. Construction work on it started in 1973 but was stopped by the property market recession and it was not completed until 1981.
Its mantle as Bristol’s tallest office building has lasted since then but could soon be lost as Bristol City Council has given approval for a 22-storey building as part of the Redcliff redevelopment scheme.
