Property firm planning refurbishment and repurposing for historic site

More than a decade on from the original transformation of the historic Carvers Warehouse into an office destination in Manchester’s Piccadilly Basin, Leeds-based property investor and car park operator Town Centre Securities is refurbishing and repurposing the space to suit its growing property community.

The 22,000 sq ft four-storey Grade II-listed canal side office building, built in 1806 and one of Manchester’s oldest surviving warehouses, was converted in 2007 and is home to architects, engineers and property consultants, among others, creating a thriving property hub within the space.

TCS has invested into refurbishing the stone-built building to further enhance the offering to tenants with works starting on site in June.

The refurbishment plans are to be implemented by chosen contractor, Stonehouse Projects, and will include a break-out area, shared workspace, enhancement of the existing food and beverage offerings, and communal areas which will house meeting pods.

Many of the existing tenants have remained loyal to the development for the past 10 years, including Civic Engineers, who worked on the original refurbishment of the building, building services engineers Max Fordham, and architects The Harris Partnership.

In addition, new tenants taking more than 2,000 sq ft of office suites include structural engineering consultancy firm Renaissance, IT and services consultant Oddsphere, and chartered surveyors Hynes Illingworth.

Chris Collins, asset manager for TCS said: “This latest investment into Carvers Warehouse forms part of our wider ambitions for the Piccadilly Basin regeneration development, which is one of our most significant portfolio projects.

“We are very proud of how the building has served our tenant base over the last decade and are confident that these changes and improvements will support our valued occupiers.”

Stephen O’Malley, founding director of Civic Engineers said: “It’s good to hear about the plans to repurpose and refurbish Carvers Warehouse to ensure it suits the needs of its growing property community.

“For us, collaboration is key to our business and the focus on providing more communal areas and shared spaces is welcomed. We were the engineers and construction managers on the original refurbishment 10 years ago and this impressive, historic building has been our home ever since.”