Property news: Princes Street, Manchester; Jackson House; S.Park & more
FIVE deals have been completed at 52 and 54 Princes Street in Manchester city centre.
The agreements have been struck by commercial property agents Canning O’Neill acting on behalf of Canada Life Investments.
At 52 Princess Street, The Recruitment Business, trading as Become, and Jefferson Sheard has taken 849sq ft and 527sq ft respectively, which mean the property is now fully occupied.
Meanwhile, at 54 Princess Street, Havas Media Planning trading as Havas Media (2,498sq ft), R.O.EYE (1,917sq ft), and Creative Lynx Ltd (1,55sq ft) have all signed up.
They join existing tenants JM Architects, Havas Lynx, and Urban Cookhouse leaving only the top floor of 4,848sq ft, which is available immediately.
The lettings come after Canada Life acquired 54 Princess Street in 2015 and working closely with Bridge Properties have since undertaken a comprehensive refurbishment of the building including sandblasting brick and beams to reveal the true character of this 19th century former warehouse.
In addition, facilities have been updated to suit modern occupier requirements with the addition of showers and collaborative working areas.
A statement released on behalf of Ben Wood, fund manager at Canada Life Investments and Paul Stewart from Manchester-based Bridge Properties, said: “At 52 Princess Street and the soon to be re-positioned 54 Princess Street we have worked closely with occupiers to create a vibrant mix of companies that collaborate, mentor, inspire and talk to one another.”
John Nash, associate director, Canning O’Neill, joint agents for both schemes with Edwards & Co, said: “52 Princess Street remains one of the best examples in Manchester of a warehouse converted for office use and 54 Princess Street is now being brought up to an equal standing.
“The level of demand is testament to the quality of the refurbishment work and the reaction at the launch of the top floor of 54 Princess Street earlier this month was incredibly positive.”
Tenants were all unrepresented.
Quoting rental at 54 Princess Street is £17.50.
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CLOSE Brothers is the latest tenant to sign up for Jackson House in Sale, Greater Manchester.
The deal struck by Commercial Estate Group forms a new location for Close Brothers Motor Finance, which will take 1,780sq ft on the ground floor on a 10-year lease.
Other occupiers include CHEP UK, Ralli Solicitors, Harrington Brooks, IBM UK and AA Projects.
Jackson House comprises more than 100,000sq ft of Grade A office accommodation.
The scheme has 24,000sq ft remaining and can offer the largest single floor of offices (14,242sq ft) in South Manchester as well as smaller suites ranging from 874sq ft to 7,889sq ft.
Greg Lacey, investment manager at CEG, said: “The Sale market remains very competitive, with many deals being done around the sub 5,000sq ft mark.
“Close Brothers were attracted to Jackson House because of the central location of the building, competitive rental costs, availability of secure on-site car parking and the quality feel of the building.”
David Powell, director of Property Professionals, which acted for Close Brothers, said: “Jackson House appealed to Close Brothers Motor Finance because of the local facilities around the building, yet only being a few minutes’ drive from the M60 even at peak times.
“They were impressed with the prestigious feel to the building, especially given the rental costs and the pragmatic attitude of the building owners.”
Canning O’Neill and Savills are joint letting agents for Jackson House.
Quoting rental is £12.50psf on ground floor, £15.00psf on upper floors.
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THE industrial team at property advisor JLL has completed an £820,000 sale at Chancerygate’s S.Park industrial development in Stockport.
Coffee Nest has taken the 9,441sq ft Unit 15 at the park. The business joins occupiers including Chinese electrics firm CHINT, Jaguar Land Rover and Big Yellow Self Storage.
The deal leaves only one 9,323sq ft unit available at the M60-adjacent park.
Andrew Lynn, director – industrial and logistics at JLL, said: “Well designed schemes in the North West are benefiting from the significant demand from native and new occupiers to the region looking to connect to the region’s well-established logistics industry.”
Mike Walker of Chancerygate commented: “We have strong interest in the remaining unit and expect to announce a sale shortly. This success further reinforces our commitment to speculative development.”
Joint agents at S.Park are Davies Harrison and JLL.
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NORTH West-based Eccleston Homes is celebrating its 50th luxury home sale completion since setting up in 2011, and has secured its eighth site acquisition for residential development.
The milestone sale for the housebuilder is at its Jubilee Gardens development in Ramsbottom, Lancashire, where all 14 properties including the show home are now sold.
Eccleston Homes has also acquired its eighth site at Stubbins, near Ramsbottom.
The Chatterton Place development has been submitted for planning permission to create 11 four and five-bedroom ‘Arts & Crafts’ style detached homes, built with local stone facades in keeping with its historical surroundings.
Kevin Marren, founder and managing director, Eccleston Homes, said: “Jubilee Gardens has been a highly successful development for Eccleston Homes for a number of reasons. Its location in Ramsbottom, a desirable commuter village, has attracted local and incoming families.
“Our ‘Arts & Crafts’ style homes, with their traditional exterior and contemporary internal specification, have been very popular.
“This has opened up further opportunities for us, notably the opportunity to grow our presence in the area with the Stubbins site, and we’re delighted to have secured the land to create more homes to meet the demand.”
In April, Eccleston Homes also acquired a new site at Worsley, Greater Manchester, with planning submitted to provide 15 detached four and five-bedroom homes. Both sites are expected to commence on site this summer.
Marren added: “In five years, our company has created five highly successful developments, with three further sites expected to start on site imminently that have been inundated with reservations. Kingsleigh Manor, our development at Heaton Mersey, South Manchester, was all reserved off plan before we started on site or had a sales office!
“We are committed to producing homes of the highest quality design, component and construction, and our Subcontractor Charter and customer-focused service ensures we deliver.
“It’s been a fantastic, momentum-changing couple of months for us and we’re looking forward to producing and selling the next fifty homes.”
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THE Landwood Group, the property surveyors, auctioneers and asset managers, has sold a garden centre and nurseries near Folkestone to Grovewell Gardens Centres for an undisclosed sum.
The 18.5 acre MacFarlanes Garden & Butterfly Nursery, at Hawkinge, near Folkestone, comprised a number of buildings, including a shop, café, former butterfly house, warehouse and owner’s house.
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THE Specialist Markets team at CBRE Manchester has completed two lettings in the Heywoods Building on Brunswick Street in Liverpool to new tenant The Alchemist Bar & Restaurant and existing occupier Then Hospitality for its four-star hotel.
The Grade II-listed Heywoods Building dates back to 1799 and was originally Martin’s Bank before conversion in 2009 to the Heywoods House Hotel and the infamous Noble House bar restaurant, a firm favourite with celebrities.
The Alchemist is a quirky cocktail bar and restaurant that celebrates molecular mixology, alchemy and craftsmanship.
Forming part of the Living Ventures, the bar will occupy the 6,700sq ft ground floor and basement unit with a view to opening in July.
The group currently operates five Alchemist venues in Manchester, Leeds and London with new openings pending in Birmingham, Newcastle and Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Then Hospitality has renewed its lease of the 35-bedroom hotel located to the upper floors.
The company has operated the four-star hotel since 2010, providing business and leisure guests with a truly exceptional experience including plush rooms and roof terraces.
The hotel group is well established and operates 13 boutique, country house and full service hotels across the UK under franchise agreement for a range of hotel companies including Intercontinental Hotels, Holiday Inn Express, Ramada Encore and Ramada Plaza.
Nick Huddleston, Associate Director at CBRE, said: “We are delighted to have secured Alchemist to the building and renewed the boutique hotel lease to Then Hospitality.
“Alchemist’s ability to create amazing and exciting venues with an unrivalled food and drink offering will be a massive draw for the hotel, locality and wider Castle Street area which continues to develop and thrive.
“In addition, the proposed redevelopment of the India Buildings located opposite into a mixed use leisure, residential and office scheme will no doubt positively impact on Liverpool’s Business District going forward.’’
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HEAD of Steam has enlisted the expertise of Warrington-based firm DV8 Designs to transform its recently opened Sheffield venue.
Alongside RDF Construction, the creative interior design team has spent eight weeks on site to transform the Grade II-listed building to feature a playful, urban and industrial feel that compliments the building in which it is housed.
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MANCHESTER-based Interior architecture and FFE (furniture, fixtures and equipment) consultancy, SpaceZero, has secured contracts working on 40% of the country’s private finance-funded Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) schools, and almost a quarter of those which are government funded.
The Priority Schools Building Programme was established in 2011 to address the needs of the schools across the country that are in poor condition and require urgent repair.
Through the programme, the majority of schools highlighted as needing to be rebuilt or refurbished to transform working and environmental conditions will be funded by the Education Funding Agency (EFA).
However, under the PSBP scheme, the EFA will also deliver five batches of 46 schools through ‘PF2’, the government’s new approach to private finance.
Having recently bid on four out of five PF2 batches across the UK, SpaceZero secured contracts with two schemes – one in the North West region, and the other one in Hertfordshire, Luton and Reading.
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CONSTRUCTION and infrastructure company Morgan Sindall has started the £12m transformation of Ridgeway High School in the Noctorum area of Birkenhead.
The project is one of 12 schools being rebuilt by the company under the Education Funding Agency’s (EFA) Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) which aims to provide purpose-built school buildings to those in most need of urgent repair.
Originally built in the 1970s and extended in the 1990s, Ridgeway is an 825-pupil co-educational secondary school principally serving the Noctorum, Prenton and Oxton areas of Wirral.
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THE first phase of homes on the former MMU campus site in Didsbury, Manchester, will launch this summer.
The developer, heritage specialists PJ Livesey, says work on the conversion of the Grade II- listed Administration Building fronting Wilmslow Road is progressing well and ground works are on schedule.
More than 2,000 people have registered interest in the St James Park development that will deliver 96 homes in total, a mix of conversion and new build in the popular south Manchester suburb.
PJ Livesey, managing director, Peter Livesey, said: “MMU is a wonderful, 17 acre site in probably the best location in Didsbury and this is going to be an absolutely stunning scheme mixing heritage buildings and new homes in a mature setting.
“There is unprecedented interest and pent up demand from owner occupiers wanting something special but we want to have properties that people can touch and feel before launching sales at St James Park.
“We are committed to delivering some very special homes here, a new neighbourhood and a new legacy for the area.”
A bespoke on-site Information Centre is currently being fitted out and is due to open next month. Registered buyers are being updated by newsletter.
The first phase will deliver conversion properties building where the two wings are being split vertically to create a series of mews homes with open plan ground floor living, private gardens and large roof top terraces overlooking a landscaped courtyard. Prices will start around £600,000
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PR, social and content agency Intelligent Conversation has marked its seventh anniversary with a move to purpose-designed offices in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
The 11-strong agency has signed a five-year lease for 1,800sq ft of space on the fifth floor of The Hive, Lever Street – the only grade A office space in the Northern Quarter. It was previously located in boutique offices in Piccadilly Gardens.
The move follows the continuing growth of the business, which launched in April 2009 and now has a £1million plus fee income.
The new offices will accommodate a growing team. Two new senior consultants joined in autumn 2015 with a further two senior appointments joining in June.
Managing director Libby Howard said: ”This is a landmark move for the business and a confident statement in our future.
“We have invested £100,000 to convert an empty shell at The Hive into a five-star working environment that is designed to cope with future expansion.
“We looked at a number of different offices but the Hive was the only one to combine the highest quality of office space with a convenient city centre location – important for both our team and our clients.
We also love the fact that it is such an energy efficient building, with a BREEAM Excellent rating.”
Ric Tsang, asset manager at building landlord Kames Capital, said: “The Hive is the stand out building of the Northern Quarter and Intelligent Conversation are an ideal tenant for such an innovative building.”
The design, build and fit-out of the offices was conducted by Manchester-based Select Interiors. The company managed the six-week project from start to finish – using reclaimed and new materials to transform an empty shell into a contemporary and inspiring open plan office, including meeting rooms and break-out spaces.
Carl Brown, Managing Director of Select Interiors, said: “Intelligent Conversation had a clear vision for this project. They wanted to create a five-star working environment for their team and for clients and we have absolutely achieved that.”
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CHANCERYGATE’S Mercury Park development at Trafford Park, Manchester is now fully let following the letting of the final unit.
The industrial and logistics division of real estate advisers Colliers International has struck a deal on Unit 14, a detached warehouse and two-storey office unit comprising 6,744sq ft with car parking and loading space which has been let to XPO Global Forwarding.
The transaction represents the third letting in succession by joint agents Colliers and Knight Frank following deals for unit 13 with City Sprint (UK) Ltd and units 8 & 9 being let to Buhler UK Holdings Ltd. Unit 13 is 7,949 sq ft and Units 8 & 9 total 14,158sq ft.
City Sprint was represented by Wimbourne Martin French and Buhler by P3.
Julien Kenny-Levick, director, industrial and logistics at the Manchester office of Colliers International, secured the letting to XPO and said: “The strong level of demand for units on Mercury Park was demonstrated by the fact that all three lettings were completed before the units became available and any official marketing was undertaken.”
Mike Walker, development director for Chancerygate in the North West, said: “This occupier demand at Mercury Park underpins our view that the industrial sector continues to be extremely robust and as such we are actively seeking to buy further multi-let estates throughout the UK, where we can add value.”
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THE UK’s leading regeneration specialist St Modwen has now fully let 46,000sq ft at Larch Lea Industrial Estate in Liverpool following a final letting of 2,000sq ft to Anfield Auto Lease.
This thriving industrial estate, off Belmont Road and approximately three miles north east of Liverpool City Centre, has continued to attract interest from the market.
Larch Lea is an established industrial location popular with traditional workshop and warehouse users and trade counter operators. The estate provides a variety of units from 2,000sq ft to 10,000sq ft.
Jonathan Livesey, senior property Manager at St Modwen – North West, said: “We are very pleased that this popular industrial estate is now fully let.
“We have already carried out a number of improvements to Larch Lea. The original buildings have been vastly improved with the benefit of additional elements including a number of private self-contained yards.”
Larch Lea Industrial Estate is within the £260m regeneration of Anfield, which is orchestrated by Liverpool City Council in partnership with Your Housing Group and Liverpool Football Club. The regeneration is well-underway and will see total transformation of the area.
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PLANS to build a new day nursery to accommodate up to 120 children have been given the go ahead.
The new nursey, part of the Ashbridge Schools portfolio, will be built on land north of Lightfoot Lane in the Fulwood area of Preston.
PWA Planning developed and submitted the planning application with architecture practice Bramley-Pate and Partners. The application was approved in April, following a resubmission of plans which had previously been refused.
The development consists of two phases, the first would see the provision of a 44-place day nursery, followed by phase two, which would see the nursery spaces increase to 120.
The plans also include the landscaping of the surrounding land, to include play areas, new trees and shrubs, and car parking.
Katie Delaney, associate at Lancashire planning consultants PWA Planning, said: “This new nursery fits perfectly into the North West Preston Masterplan which seeks to build up to 5,000 new homes in the area.
“Approval of the plans means that the provision of an excellent nursery facility, which will complement the housing proposed for the area, is now confirmed.
“The plans were resubmitted following initial concerns from the planning committee regarding access to the site.
“We are pleased that planning committee has now acknowledged that the scheme would represent appropriate and sustainable development and that a safe and convenient access can be made available.
“We are confident that the latest development will benefit the local area and bring the Ashbridge reputation for quality to this part of Preston.”
The day nursery, which will be the fourth nursery operated by Ashbridge Schools, will be spread across two floors.
Initially it will have 17 car parking spaces, three motorbike spaces and space for bicycles. Phase two will see the parking spaces increased to 33, addressing concerns raised by local residents.
