- What Office take-up in Manchester city centre totalled more than 300,000 sq ft in Q1
- Why Only slightly down on 2019’s figures
- What next Agents remain confident on demand despite COVID-19
Take-up of office space in the centre of Manchester hit just over 306,000 sq ft in the first quarter of the year, according to the Manchester Office Agents’ Forum.
It is the third consecutive year that take-up has exceeded 300,000 sq ft in Q1, although 2020’s figure is slightly down on the 315,000 sq ft reported by MOAF in 2019.
MOAF reported 58 deals concluded across the city in the first three months of the year. Bruntwood SciTech’s Circle Square was particularly active with four deals – Northcoders, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Accenture, and Hilti took a combined 67,348 sq ft.
At the Arndale Tower, owned by M&G, Sopra Steria and Marker Study took a combined 52,260 sq ft, while at Boultbee Brooks’ Core, Bet365 took 25,029 sq ft, taking the building to fully-let.
Outside the city centre in Salford Quays and Old Trafford, deals totalling 111,916 sq ft completed in the first quarter, twice the level of activity compared with a year earlier. The largest deal to complete was BES taking 21,400 sq ft at Peel’s Adamson House, while there were four further deals over 10,000 sq ft to occupiers including Bibby Financial and QA Consulting.
MOAF members noted there had been “very little fall-out in terms of occupier demand” despite the COVID-19 outbreak, citing “robust fundamentals” in the city centre office market with demand coming from both major companies and indigenous SMEs.
As a result, headline rents remain on course to break the £40 per sq ft barrier with headline rents currently standing at £38 per sq ft.
Richard Wharton of JLL said: “Activity seen in the first three months of 2020 demonstrates the strength and depth of the Manchester city centre office market with lettings seen across a range of office schemes including new-build development, refurbished buildings and a new flex operator – Hana – entering the market. Although there may be challenging times ahead, we believe the underlying demand from major corporate occupiers looking to expand and relocate into the city will remain strong. When we return to normality, we expect that delivery of new-build and refurbished schemes will continue apace.”
Nick Nelson of Sixteen added: “There has been an inevitable handbrake on new activity which will stay until there is a return to a semblance of normality. It is however positive to note that the majority of leasehold deals that were close to transacting are still moving along in the background.
“It is understandable that companies both small and large are concentrating on more pressing issues with cashflow and staff retention rather than property initiatives. Companies should however look into the government support measures as and when the finer detail is made public and engage with their landlords in respect of rental holidays, deferments or monthly payment plans.”
MOAF is made up of Avison Young, BE Group, CBRE, Colliers International, Canning O’Neill, Cushman and Wakefield, Edwards and Co, Hallam Property Consultants, JLL, Knight Frank, LSH, Matthews & Goodman, OBI, Savills, and Sixteen.
