Property briefs: On the Beach on the move, plus, Hamill, Livingcity, and more…
ONLINE travel agent On The Beach has taken 17,500 sq ft at Orbit Development’s Park Square in Cheadle.
The business is moving 150 staff from the Towers Business Park in Didsbury, owned by a joint venture between Property Alliance Group (PAG) and the Moorfield Group.
On The Beach has taken a 10-year lease and plans to expand its call centre and administration team.
Other tenants include engineering firm Jacobs, Royal Mail and Welspun.
Jackie Taylor, facilities manager at On the Beach, said: “After a recent expansion we are delighted to be moving to our new base at Park Square. The building ticks all the boxes and we are looking forward to our business growing from strength to strength at our new UK base.”
Rhys Owen, leasing surveyor at Orbit Developments, said: “We have seen a real demand for Park Square since the first high profile client moved in.”
DTZ and GVA acted for Orbit Developments.
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BOLTON-based property group Hamill Investments has appointed Manchester-based Stone Construction (NW) to refurbish Regatta House at Clippers Quay in Salford Quays.
Hamill paid GGM Properties around £2m for the 14,200 sq ft building last month. It plans to convert the block into 35 serviced office suites ranging from 107-538 sq ft.
Hamill’s managing director Chris Neill said: “With little flexible serviced accommodation available in and around MediaCityUK, our aim is to bring these modern suites to the market by November this year to cater for this surplus demand. We are ahead of schedule and are already negotiating with a number of interested parties and expect to announce the first tenants very soon.
“These high quality serviced offices are likely to appeal to digital, media, creative and new technology sectors. The easy in and out terms and excellent communication systems will give tenants the support they need to flourish.”
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ASSET management firm Livingcity Group has launched a separate building surveying division called LcBC.
The team is headed up by David Shaw, a surveyor with 31 years’ experience of working across the construction industry.
The Manchester company said the arm will seek to add value to the firm’s various teams as well as offering a range of services to its own client base.
Mr Shaw said: “As a business, Livingcity has a great reputation so I’m excited to now have the responsibility of growing the LcBC offering. My sole focus is on making sure it is embedded into the main business and actually adds value, whilst at the same time engaging with our existing clients.”
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THE Manchester office of Colliers International has sold the leasehold on a farmhouse with guest accommodation near Ambleside for £225,000.
The 19th Century Elterwater Park, surrounded by private parkland at Skelwith, has been acquired by first-time operators Neil and Lesley McCririe from Liverpool, who left careers in teaching to realise their ambition of running a bed and breakfast in the Lake District.
The farmhouse has four letting bedrooms with five further letting rooms overlooking a courtyard in five converted cottages. The complex also features a traditional Lakeland stone barn recently converted into a tea and function room.
Neil Thomson, associate director in the specialist hotels division at Colliers, said: “We were able to help them purchase Elterwater Park with cash at a fraction of the freehold value and without the need for bank funding. The sale demonstrates that despite problems with the current market, there are plenty of good quality and profitable leasehold opportunities being overlooked by potential buyers.
“Why encumber yourself with ownership of the freehold and a large mortgage when acquiring a leasehold investment can offer you the same rewards?
“Sellers who can’t sell in the current difficult market could consider creating new leases to meet demand from likeminded buyers, while retaining their investment in the property which is likely to increase in value over the longer term.”
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SANDERSON Weatherall has sold the Manchester premises of gospel church Eglise En Mission for £155,000.
The church uses the 4,106 sq ft premises on North Street, Cheetham Hill, for church services and member meetings for the city’s West African community.
The single storey premises – which generate a rental income of £15,600 per annum – have been acquired by a corporate investor.
