Iconic Salford building is now fully let

An iconic building in Salford is now fully let after two existing tenants extended their leases.

Soapworks, the former Colgate-Palmolive factory, is now full following the two new lettings.

The Home Office has expanded to take the whole of the adjacent Boiler House building totalling 20,000 sq ft on a lease in excess of 10 years.

And TalkTalk, one of the first tenants to originally move in to the scheme, has also agreed a three year lease for the last remaining suite of 5,500 sq ft, taking its total occupation to 111,000 sq ft.

Soapworks currently provides 230,000 sq ft of unique, high quality office space and recently welcomed new tenants, Irwell Valley Homes, which relocated there at the beginning of the year and technology services giant, CGI.

It is also home to Innov8 and MWH.  The quoting rental level at the Soapworks was at £18.50 per sq ft.

Chris Cheap, managing director at Avison Young, the joint letting agents acting on behalf of landlord, GMPF, said: “Soapworks has proven to be one of the region’s greatest office regeneration success stories of the last decade.

“A lot has changed since GMPF acquired the scheme a little over 18 months ago and we have introduced a number of exciting new initiatives that have not only attracted new headline tenants but also meant that existing ones were keen to remain and expand their occupancy.

“The fact that we were able to re-let the Boilerhouse immediately without going out to the market is testament to what we have achieved.”

Chris added: “Inspired by this recent success, we are now looking at some exciting options for developing the next phase of this iconic scheme and hope to announce plans later this year.”

Jennifer Bamber, manager at Soapworks, said: “It’s been fantastic to have been part of the Soapworks team from concept to fully occupied and I’m so proud of what we have created here.

“The tenants have fully embraced the new programme of activities and facilities that we have invested in. The scheme is buzzing with activity and I’m delighted with the continuous positive feedback we get from our 2,500 member community. These latest tenant expansions are testament to that.”

Jones Lang LaSalle is the joint letting agent.  Cushman & Wakefield acted on behalf of the home office.