Canada Life acquires Manchester city centre site for £7.82m

Financial corporation Canada Life has reaffirmed its appetite for Manchester investments, shown by its latest city centre office acquisition of Barnett House for £7.82m.

Barnett House, situated at 53 Fountain Street, was constructed during the early 1980’s and was extensively refurbished in the late 1990’s.

The building provides 30,000 sq ft of office accommodation over ground and eight upper levels with car parking provided at basement level.

It is occupied entirely by Regus, operating the successful flexible office solution model, on a lease until October 2021 at a current rent of £514,900 per annum.

Canada Life has raised cash through a recent office sale of 54 Princess Street, in Manchester, and were keen to re-invest.

The property was acquired from the Eric Wright Group, based in Preston. CBRE (Manchester) acted for the vendor.

Neil Higson, investment director at Manchester-based Wildbrook CRE, said: “Barnett House is a very exciting opportunity, in a prime location in the traditional heart of the central business district in Manchester.

“Given the activities of the tenant, and the recent introduction of their Spaces brand in the city centre at Peter House, it makes Barnett House an intriguing prospect.

“The asset is also reversionary with rental growth possible, and provides a number of asset management angles in the medium to long term.”

Luke Wilson, associate director at CBRE, added: “We were delighted to complete the sale of Barnett House on behalf of Eric Wright Group at a level significantly ahead of the quoting price.

“The asset received an excellent level of investor interest and we wish Canada Life all the best with their future plans.”