Stellar first half for Manchester city centre and out-of-town office markets

101 Barbirolli Square

Office take up in Manchester city centre reached 327,035 sq ft in the second quarter of 2018, taking the total for the first half of the year to 769,118 sq ft, according to Manchester Office Agents Forum (MOAF).

Both figures are significantly higher than the same periods in 2017, when take up totalled 282,604 sq ft in Q2 and 486,915 sq ft in H1.

MOAF reports that 76 office deals completed in the city centre during the second quarter of 2018, the largest of which was 53,839 sq ft let to WSP at Ask Real Estate’s First Street.

Other notable deals from the period include 39,934 sq ft let to Handelsbanken at AEW’s 101 Barbirolli Square and 34,507 sq ft at Epsilon Real Estate Partners’ Aeroworks let to travel company On The Beach.

Andrew Cooke of the office agency team at Savills Manchester said: “After the best first quarter on record, office take up in Manchester city centre continued robustly in Q2.

“There remain numerous large deals in the pipeline for the second half of this year, meaning Manchester looks set for a very strong 2018 performance.”

Outside of the city centre, the total office take up for Salford Quays and Old Trafford in Q2 was 52,394 sq ft, bringing the H1 2018 total to 121,475 sq ft.

This is a 30% increase on the same period in 2017 and, therefore, reflects consistent levels of demand throughout the first half of the year. The largest deal in Q2 was at Centenary House, where Regus acquired 22,123 sq ft.

South Manchester also experienced a productive second quarter, with 216,403 sq ft transacting.

This brings the H1 2018 total to 385,265 sq ft, a 16% increase on the same period in 2017. The largest deal was the sale of Lakeside 3400 at Cheadle Royal Business Park to Pure Offices.

LSH’s Matt Pickersgill added: “The strong Q2 figures for all of the ‘out of town’ office markets have driven very positive results for the first half of 2018.

“With a number of medium, to large, requirements still not satisfied, we should continue to see strong take up figures moving into the second half of 2018.”

Formed in 2009, MOAF members include Avison Young, BE Group, CBRE, Colliers International, Canning O’Neill, Cushman & Wakefield, Edwards & Co, GVA, Hallams Property Consultants, JLL, Knight Frank, LSH, Matthews & Goodman, OBI Property, Savills, Sixteen Real Estate, and TSG Property Consultants.

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